A Matter of Family
by Flicka LightBeast
Summary: After Keith is put in a healing pod after a life threatening mission, he remembers a small clue about his parents and embarks on his own mission to find them. After Keith leaves in the middle of the night, still recovering from his critical injuries, Shiro goes out to find him, not knowing what secrets both his family, and Keith’s share. This isn’t a Sheith story BTW hope you enjoy
1. Chapter One

Inspired by the Netflix Original Series Dreamwork's

Voltron Legendary Defenders…

and written by fan fiction writer

FlickaLightbeast…

With excitement 

I present...

Voltron Legendary Defenders

A Matter of Family

Chapter one

Never forget your position

Keith held on tight to the leather straps hanging from the ceiling. He, Kolivan, and one other Blade of Mamora warrior stood in the Black lion's cargo holder. It hadn't been long since Keith had left team Voltron to join the Blade of Mamora. Although he missed everyone, he felt like his duty was to the Blades now. Besides, Shiro was bonded with the black lion once again now, and Keith believed he himself was just not meant to lead Voltron. So him leaving and Shiro becoming the leader again was better for everyone.

"How much longer till we reach the drop off point, Black Paladin?" Kolivan asked.

"A few more ticks." Shiro said over the com.

He flew the Black Lion right towards a Galra outpost on a rocky planet. The outpost was only known to be there, because it was shown on the map. The outpost was hidden from view by a large, overhanging cliff, the outpost itself being on a cliff side. Allura, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were all headed for four other different outposts on the planet. Shiro's voice came in on the com in everyone's helmet.

"Alright, remember the plan." He said. "Each lion will drop off either Blade's or rebels near the entrance of each Galra outpost on this planet. Rebels and Blades, your job is to quickly and quietly infiltrate their defenses, get inside and download the information from the main computer. Once that's done, rig the outpost to blow with the explosives. Lions, your job is to keep the guns and fighters on you and distract the Galra from the team heading inside. Keep them occupied and their attention on you."

"We'll do." Pidge said for the rest of the team.

Shiro was coming close to the large cliff edge right above the outpost. Keith breathed in and out deeply as the Black Lion approached the drop off point.

 _'Patience, yields, focus'_

Keith repeated what the Black Paladin had told him seemingly so long ago in his mind. Keith was feeling slightly restless, and he found that repeating those three words in his mind calmed him.

The air duct opened out from in front of them as the Black Lion slowed its speed for a safer jump. Kolivan led the way, and with Keith following close behind, then the other Blade with them. Keith had been training for this, jumping out from some kind of fast moving vehicle, and remembered just how to land and maintain speed. As his feet hit the ground, he rolled to break his fall and was soon running alongside Kolivan. They ran for about a few seconds, the Black Lion flying over and ahead of them in those few seconds. Shiro made his presents known to the enemy by flying over the edge of the cliff and hovering in the distance.

"Commander," a Galran soldier looked over his shoulder to his commander standing behind him, "there's some kind of unidentified, flying aircraft in the distance. It's not one of ours."

The Galran commander looked at the soldier with a frown.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"I think it's one of the lions of Voltron, sir. The Black Lion maybe." The soldier responded.

The commander's frown turned to a greedy smirk.

"The Black Lion is the most powerful of the five lions. If we capture that one, the rest won't be able to form Voltron, and they'll be as good as ours. I wonder how Zarkon will ever be able to thank me. Open fire!"

Meanwhile, Keith, Kolivan and the other Blade warrior stood on the edge of the cliff. Keith tried to peek over the cliff's edge, but couldn't even see the outpost while standing (the cliff had an overhang that blocked his view). They weren't right above the command center, but would make their way there after getting inside. How they would get inside was by swinging down with grappling guns onto the landing platforms down below and next to the outpost. The landing platforms, about ten or less, also overhanged and were anchored into the cliff, but while the outpost itself was half within the cliff side, the other half was exposed and overhanging.

"Kolivan to Black lion, we are in position." Kolivan said into the com.

"Roger that." Shiro replied, and Coran's voice came in on his com.

"Careful not to hit the roof of the overhanging cliff Shiro, it could send some pretty nasty sized rocks or even the roof itself smashing down on the some of the outpost. Save that bit for after the information has been taken from the outpost and everyone is safe aboard." Coran caustioned.

"Roger that as well." Shiro said.

He activated the Black Lion's jaw blade and flew in, tearing a large gash into a part of the outpost.

"I said open fire!" The Galran commander barked at his soldiers, who were slow in there response.

They all sped up in their work, the Black Lion and the outpost were soon returning fire at each other, Shiro being careful not to hurt the base too much since his team would be inside soon enough.

Uptop and above the base, Kolivan, taking a few steps back, ran full speed towards the cliff edge and leaped off it as far out as he could go. He turned in mid air, aiming a grappling gun at the cliff's roof as he fell, and fired. The grappling hook struck into the hard stone of the rock with a loud crack. In the same second that it did, Kolivan had clipped the end of the line to the back of his belt and was holding it with one hand as he continued to let himself fall. When he knew the height was right, he tightened the line and now swung in towards a landing platform.

Knowing his momentum would easily carry him to the platform, Kolivan just let himself swing. When his feet reached the platform, he was able to detach from his line and run smoothly to a stop on the platform. Up above, the Blade warrior, who stood beside Keith backed up and did the same thing Kolivan had done. After he had landed, it was Keith's turn. He backed up a little, then ran full speed for the edge of the cliff and leaped off. Just as Kolivan and the other Blade warrior had done, Keith turned in mid air and aimed his grappling gun at the cliff's overhanging roof. He fired, and it struck home with a clang and he attached the line to the back of his belt. Keith let himself fall until he was level with the platform, holding onto his line with one hand, then tightened it.

As he came in to land though, Keith saw that he was too low as he was nearing the platform ( he tightened his line to late). With the extra length in his line, Keith was too low to land safe and quiet on the platform. To fix it, Keith gripped the line with both hands and began climbing up it as fast he could, and despite his efforts, he still had to pull his feet and lower body up so he didn't smack right into the platform's edge. His back slid on the platform's floor as he skidded to a stop. Keith couldn't believe he had made such a rookie kind of mistake. He got up, detached his line, and hurried to the large doors that led into the outpost, where Kolivan and the other Blade were at.

The other Blade warrior was already at work with opening the door as Kolivan looked at Keith. His helmet hid his expression, but Keith knew why he was looking at him without it. Keith looked at him, respectfully acknowledging.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Kolivan asked in a stern voice and tone.

"I forgot how far out I was and tightened my line to late." Keith responded.

"Mistakes like that can cost a mission what it needs to be successful," Kolivan said, still very stern, "in this case stealth. Never forget your position and where you are in a battle."

With those words, the door of the platform opened, and Kolivan led the way through. Keith followed, a little more weary due to his mistake.

They snuck through the halls for a little while, using whatever they could as cover. By hacking into the system, they found a map of the outpost and were able to guess where the main computer was (which was also where the main control room was) and how to get there. But since this was a small outpost, not a large ship or base and there wouldn't be as much security, the main computer being in the main control room would not be much of a problem. Still, they couldn't get too relaxed, it was still Galra occupied. The break into the main control room was easy, or at least taking out most of the Galra soldiers was easy. The commander however, put up more of a fight than any other outnumbered soldier might have.

Keith was the first to attack him, and he had planned to go in from a flanking assault, but just as he was about to make his attack, the commander flew a rather high and unexpected kick in his direction and his foot caught Keith in the face of his helmet. If not for his helmet, Keith was pretty sure his nose would have been bleeding and in bad shape, his helmet took most of the low though. Keith stumbled a little, but returned the commander's kick with one of his own. The commander stumbled back as Keith's right foot hit his chest hard. The commander stumbled into the main computer desk. He glanced down at the computer, then with a watchful eye on the three Blade of Mamora warriors, he moved his left hand to a distinctly different switch on the keypad.

"Whatever business you have here, traitors," the commander said in a low, menacing voice, "you'll never finish it."

Kolivan, who had been attacking the sentries in the main control room along with the other Blade, looked at the commander and saw him reached for a certain button on the control desk.

"Don't let him press that switch!" Kolivan warned. "It's a irreversible self destruct countdown launch!"

At hearing these words, Keith thrusted his dagger in a spinning throw towards the commander. It glazed his right shoulder just in time before he could fully press the switch, but it was lost as it went through the glass window with a crash and down to the landing platform below. While in that instant of the commander crying out at the gash in his shoulder, Keith had darted forward and grabbed him by the front collar of his uniform and wrenched him away from the computer.

The Galran commander now lay on the floor, stunned slightly because he had landed on his injured shoulder. Keith took up one of the fallen sentries' guns and aimed it at him, not firing of course but ensuring that if the commander got up he wouldn't get far in whichever direction he would try to go. Kolivan came to the computer, having finished off the Galran sentries and took the small drive from a pouch on his belt and plug it into the computer. He could see all the information being downloaded onto the drive, as could each rebel or Blade downloading the information on at the other locations.

"Kolivan to the Black Lion, this is it," Kolivan said, narrowing his eyes at the pictures and files flashing on the screen as they downloaded, "the stolen information on every rebel and Blade of Mamora in our fleet. It's all here."

"Good," Shiro responded over the com, "that means we can stop for them at the other locations. Set the charges and get out of there."

The other Blade took the explosives from the small pack he had been wearing and set them on the walls, setting a timer for but a few minutes (doboshes in their time). Keith glanced at the files and pictures the computer was downloading. There were quite a few, but there was one that stuck out to him. A strangely familiar face that kept appearing over and over again. He couldn't tell who it was, and the face kept disappearing too fast for him to get a good look. But before he could really figure out who it was, all the files were downloaded and the photos all disappeared as Kolivan pulled the drive from the computer.

"The charges are set. But we must hurry if we are going to be in a safe distance by the time they go off." The other Blade warrior said, standing close to the door.

"Then let's go." Kolivan replied, and he led the way out.

All three made it through the doors, and Keith stopped to close them shut, the main computer being the only real thing they needed to destroy. But even while he was doing all this, he couldn't get that thought of the familiar face out of his head. After pressing the button for the doors to close, Keith raced after Kolivan and the other Blade.

He had fallen behind a little, but would no doubt catch up. He didn't see the small grenade that had been thrown by the Galran commander as it made it through the closing doors and clanked on the floor behind him. In a matter of seconds, ones to which Keith would never truly recall, the grenade went off in one, blood tingling explosion. The explosion came as a surprise to all three Blade warriors, and because Keith was closest to it, the blast wave carried him off his feet a second or two before it let him slam onto the ground.

Keith's ears were ringing as he landed heavily on the hard metal floor, and he thought he heard Kolivan call his name. He got up, grunting at the ringing in his ears, but he then noticed small bits of rock crumbling down from the ceiling. He looked up and saw how much the stone ceiling of the hall they were in had been affected by the sudden blast. It cracked dangerously and rocks fell from loose bits. Keith dodged a falling rock the size of his fist.

"Run!" Kolivan shouted at Keith as he turned and ran, the other Blade following.

Keith ran as hard as he could after them both, dodging rocks falling from the ceiling. One hit him, on the shoulder, and although it just slightly threw him off balance, he found that he was far more behind than he first thought. Behind him, the ceiling was giving in, crumbling down in large pieces of rock and piling on the floor. The rocks were on his heels in a matter of seconds, and his vision was being clouded by the dust coming from the ceiling. As Keith ran through the thickening dust, he tried to dodge the falling rocks, or at least the ones that he could see. He could tell though that he was nearly out of it, just a little farther and he'd be safe. Just as Keith's vision was being completely clouded over by the dust and falling rocks though, a very large rock to which he didn't see until it was too late, came crashing down on his head; and this time, his helmet didn't save him from the blow.

Shiro came to land on the main landing platform, where he guessed the Blade's would exit and it was really the only place he could land the large lion. He scanned the bay doors for them, then finally saw them running out. But wait, someone was missing. Only two Blade's came out, and Shiro remembered there had been three of them. Shiro guesses that the third was probably just a little behind, but as he lowered the Black Lion's head for them to get in, he still didn't see the third. Kolivan came to his side.

"We must leave, quickly. The charges will go off soon." Kolivan said, his voice calm and steady despite how fast he'd been running.

"What about the third Blade warrior?" Shiro asked as a Blade warrior came to Kolivan's side.

Kolivan looked behind his partner, and like Shiro, didn't see the shorter warrior with them.

"He must have been caught in some debris, but there's no time. We cannot go back for him now." Kolivan said, but he said it with a low, seemingly grave or slightly depressed tone.

Shiro narrowed his eyes at him in slight confusion, and as he took another look at the other Blade with Kolivan, he suddenly realized with dread who was left behind.

"Where's Keith?!" Shiro asked, his tone concerned.

Kolivan looked at him.

"We cannot go back for him. If he was caught in those falling rocks, there's no way he could have survived." Kolivan said, his voice just a little grace at leaving one of his men, a young man, behind.

"No! He's stronger than you know Kolivan." Shiro said defensively, refusing to except it. "Keith? Keith are you there?" He said in the com.

There was no response, but Shiro wasn't taking that as a signal to leave. He got up and out of his chair and ran in a mad dash out of his lion and to the hangar.

"Shiro! We cannot waste any more time!" Kolivan shouted after him.

Shiro wasn't going to listen though. He wasn't giving up on Keith, he told him once that he never would, and that promise hadn't changed over the years. Kolivan gave a frustrated groan and ran after the Black Paladin, knowing he was probably not going to listen and he was their only way out. The best thing he could do was help.

Shiro ran through the hall, soon stopping upon being unsure of where he should go to find Keith, wherever he was. That was until Kolivan came running past him.

"We went out this way!" He shouted down the hall as he ran. "Perhaps he won't be far back."

Shiro followed Kolivan. After a few turns, they about stumbled into a pile of rocks and rubble.

"This is close to where the ceiling began to collapse." Kolivan said. "I'm not sure what we'll find and we're limited on time."

"So let's start digging." Shiro said as he came forward and began to pull away at rocks, careful to not start any kind of rockslide.

Kolivan did the same.

"If we can't find him soon," he cautioned, "we'll have to leave without him."

Shiro hesitated to answer.

"I'm not giving up on him." He answered. "But you can leave whenever you want."

Kolivan was silent as they continued to dig away. They probably had about fifty-six or so ticks left until they had to leave without Keith. Shiro hoped it didn't come to that. He grunted as he pulled away another rock, and suddenly caught sight of something that made him gasp.

Shiro could see a hand and part of a forearm lying within the rocks, the dark blueish black fabric covering it soaked with a red liquid (blood). With a few more pulled away rocks, they found Keith, buried and hopefully alive. His right forearm and hand, which had been crushed by some of the rocks, were bleeding badly, and the blood was soaking the fabric and staining the ground. Keith's helmet has mostly been kept in tact, apart from the crack where a rock had no doubt fallen on it.

"Keith…." Shiro breathed in horror, and he an Kolivan hurriedly cleared the rocks off the young boy.

After clearing away the rocks that were crushing him, Shiro and Kolivan carefully lifted Keith out of the rubble and set him down. They had probably about forty or so ticks left. Shiro checked to see if Keith was even breathing. Kolivan helped with making the helmet fade away, and with it gone, Shiro could see Keith's face. His limp body had already suggested he was unconscious, but seeing Keith's face made Shiro feel a little better. He was indeed breathing, but barely.

"Keith?" Shiro asked, trying to wake him up, "Keith? Can you hear me?"

Keith's eyes opened a little and he stared at Shiro, with a weak gaze.

"Shiro?" Keith asked, his voice quiet and he winced.

"Keith," Shiro said, trying to keep his voice calm to keep Keith calm as well, "what's hurting?"

Keith winced, trying to pinpoint the pain he was feeling.

"My arm…my side...and my back..." He said, and he was silent for another moment, "...and I can't feel my legs…."

Keith winced again and made a small cough dew to dust from the rocks, he was covered in dust.

"Okay," Shiro said, "just stay with us. We'll get you some help real soon. Okay?" Shiro said, looking at Keith sincerely.

Keith made a very weak nod, his eyes barely staying open.

"...okay…." he barely managed to say.

With that, Shiro carefully slipped one arm under both of Keith's knees and the other under his back. He then stood up, being careful and making sure he held his friend securely in his arms, then turning he and Kolivan began to head back to the Black Lion. Carrying Keith at all had its own risks, but they had to move. They didn't have time to brace his back or neck to keep from further injury (since a spinal injury was what Shiro was expecting, especially if Keith couldn't feel his legs). They'd have to get Keith some medical aid as soon as possible. As of now, all they could do was get to safety.

Shiro carried a limp Keith back through the halls to the Black Lion, Kolivan following close behind. They got to the Black Lion just as the charges above in the main control room went off, the explosion shaking the cliff side and outpost violently. Shiro felt Keith jump slightly at the sudden sound, and Shiro saw him look around with his eyes in both confusion and fear, as if he wasn't sure what was going on.

"Stay with me Keith." Shiro said as he ran up the ramp and into his lion.

Shiro set Keith down on the floor gently, Kolivan tending to him, then sat down in the seat. The Black Lion shook as a rock fell on it's back. Shiro hurriedly turned the Black Lion around and sped them out from under the falling rocks.

"Kolivan," Shiro said, turning his head just slightly so his voice would travel better, "try to stop as much of the bleeding as you can. We have to keep him from getting into shock."

Kolivan responded by putting pressure on Keith's bleeding forearm and hand. Keith grunted, but soon he found that the pain was slowly fading, and he was getting dizzy and tired. Kolivan saw that Keith was slipping into shock and grid his teeth. Quite suddenly, Keith jerked and with a small gurgling cough, something red and liquidy came up from his throat and out through his mouth. Kolivan's face turned grave as his mask deactivated, knowing what the cause of this was.

"Shiro, we must hurry and get him to whatever medical facility you have. He's bleeding internally."

"Wait what?! Who?" Hunk's voice came in over the com. Shiro didn't answer either of them, but he pushed the Black Lion into full speed towards the Castle of Lions.

"Coran, we need a healing chamber ready! Keith is in critical condition." Shiro said over the com.

"I'll get right to it!" Coran said.

"Critical?! How?! What happened?!" Allura asked, worry in her voice.

"Did he get hit?!" Lance asked, also worried.

The muffled sound of Hunk peuking as well as everyone's questions seemed to pass right through Shiro. His only thought was to get to the Castle of Lions, and to get Keith the help he needed. In a mad blur, the Black Lion reached the Castle of Lions and Shiro landed it in the bay seconds before anyone else arrived. He got up, picked up Keith, who was now fully in shock, and carried him to the infirmary. Everyone followed, except Kolivan and the other Blade warrior, who lingered behind for some reason.

Keith was now staring up at Shiro, in shock and finding it more and more hard to breath. Shiro glanced down at him.

"Stay with me Keith." He said, his voice echoing in Keith's ears.

In a slow blur, Shiro carried Keith to the infirmary. Right after Keith's breathing seized and he blacked out, Shiro had put him into the pod Coran had prepared, and activated the healing process.

 _*note to readers* Hello! Thank you so much for reading the first updated chapter of AMOF (A Matter of Family)! I'm polishing this story and the chapters up because a lot has changed since I finished this story and I just had to go back and fix the errors that drove me nuts looking back on it! If this is your first or even second time reading this chapter or story, then I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to comment or PM me about your thoughts on it! Thanks again for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day! God Bless and Flicout! XD_


	2. Chapter two

Who's your family?

Shiro stood in front of the healing pod, his eyes intent on the figure inside. His heart seemed to halt as he stared at Keith's vital signs on the pod's light, neon blue surface. He stared at a single, horizontal line on the surface. It was glowing blue, and still as it raced along it's path. Shiro held his breath, "Come on…come on..." he muttered, looking from the line to Keith's still, unbreathing form. Lance arrived first into the room, coming to Shiro's side with a terribly worried look. Allura came next, then Pidge and Hunk.

Coran was already standing nearby, a grave look on his face. Shiro didn't realize how hard he had been breathing until just now. Just as Ulaz and the other Blade warrior entered the room, the single blue line turned to a neon red, a long beep signaling no heartbeat. Shiro's eyes widened and his eyes glanced from the red line to Keith's still and lifeless face. He was silently shaking his head now, "...no…." he muttered in disbelief. Lance backed away from the pod, his mouth open slightly and his eyes beginning to fill with tears in disbelief and grief. "He...he's gone?" He asked in a mutter.

Hunk and Pidge exchanged direful looks and tearful eyes. Coran bowed his head, only to hide his own expression. Allura put a single hand over her mouth to keep a horrified sob from escaping, tears flooding her eyes. Shiro lifted his right hand to place on the pod's smooth surface to try and waken his friend as if he were in a cold sleep, but his hand never touched the glass. It jerked stop, and he slowly turned his palm towards himself to look at what was on it. Red. A red liquid, not quite dry yet, was splattered on his hand, as if he had pressed his hand in red paint; but this wasn't paint.

Shiro stared at the blood on his hand, then raised the other to see if it was any different. To see if he was imagining it. To see if it was real, and it was. Both hands were shaking now, the crimson red staining the black gloves, and Shiro felt the stinging tears fill his eyes. He closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of his blood stained hands, and he slowly fell to his knees in front of the pod, head bowed. He grid his teeth in agony. "Please...no…you can't leave us…." Shiro said in the quietest sob. Half of him wanted to scream, to cry out, to call his friend back to him, but silents was spread through the room like a black cloud, shadowing the paladins of Voltron with the great weight of loss.

Shiro's heart was beating so hard now, he could feel it pulsing in his chest, as if trying to punch its way out. He could hear it beating. Beating so hard….Beating so fast….

A sudden sound echoed through the room. It was like Shiro's heartbeat, but not as fast, and not in fact his. Shiro's devastated eyes opened, and he dared to look up, daring even more to hope. The red line that once marked a lifeless heart, was now no longer red, but blue, and it was rising up and down to create the rough, but familiar pattern, of a heartbeat. Shiro stood up in a matter of seconds to see Keith inhale, then exhale deeply, breathing normally again. Alive. Shiro felt all the bottled up air inside his lungs escape as he let out a sigh of relief and bowed his head, his body relaxing of tension, but still shaking, the fear not quite gone yet.

Allura brightened slowly as she smiled. "He's alive...he's alive!" She said joyfully, placing both hands on her chest as if to steady her racing heart. Hunk gave a both laugh and sob as he wrapped Pidge in a tight hug of joy, Pidge gave into his hug and returning it with her own. Lance sighed and lowered his head, forcing his legs to hold his weight and not fall out from under him. Shiro just closed his eyes, bowed his head, and inhaled deeply. _He's alive_ , he thought in relief, _he's alive_.

Ulaz and the other Blade, who now stood at the entrance to the room, looked silently on. Ulaz inclined his head down slightly, a small smile hidden by his mask, "I suppose he is indeed, stronger than I know." Ulaz said ever so quietly. With that, he turned and silently walked away, his companion following.

A few hours after that most terrifying scene, Shiro sat on the short little stairs that went up to where the healing pods were located in a large circle in the room. He had changed into his normal cloths, washed his hands, and gone straight back to the infirmary and sat down on the stairs in front of Keith's pod. The pod had blackened it's screen to give the part Gulran human inside a mild wash and change out of his Mamora outfit and into the same kind of suit Shiro and Lance had worn in their time in the pods. Now the glass had resumed it's normal, neon blue and see throughable state, and Keith was slowly, but surely, being healed.

Shiro had been sitting there, sometimes his back turned to Keith and other times his face turned to him, for hours. Now the day was nearly done, and still Shiro sat, and waited. He didn't exactly know what he was waiting for, but he wanted to be with his friend and be there when he woke up. Hunk entered the room. "Hey Shiro, super is ready if you're feeling hungry. I made something a little more special to brighten everyone up after what happened." Hunk said, adding an encouraging smile to his sentence. "Okay," Shiro responded after looking up at him, "I'll uh...I'll be down in a minute." He said this with mild interest though, as if the sound and thought of food didn't excite him.

Hunk's gaze lowered, not because he was saddened by Shiro's response, but that he somewhat understood what Shiro was feeling, and felt somewhat the same thing. He left silently, and Shiro was once again left mostly alone. Shiro must have dozed off a little, because his eyes had closed for a little while, then opened as he saw Allura coming in with a plate of food Hunk had made. "Hello Shiro." Allura said, coming to him with the plate and utensils. "Hello princes." Shiro said, looking up at her as he wiped the sleep from his eyes with a hand. Allura glanced down at the plate of food and said, "You never came down to supper, so I brought some up for you. It's cold, but better than an empty stomach." She smiled kindly at Shiro and offered him the plate. "Oh, sorry. I guess I wasn't hungry enough to get up. Thank you." Shiro said, and he took the plate with a small smile, but didn't eat right away.

Allura sat down next to him, setting her elbows on her knees and letting her fore arms hang out in front of her, her hands clasped together. They were both quiet for a short time, that is until Allura asked, "So Shiro, I've never asked how you and Keith met. Would you care to tell me the tale?" Shiro stared down at his food, but then looked up and at her and smiled a little. "We met a few years back. I had already spent a few years in the Galaxy Gairasens -that's our big space exploration school on earth- and Keith was just starting up on becoming a pilot. He was my co-pilot on a simulator once and I noticed how much of a good pilot he is. Afterwards, I asked him where he learned to fly like that and he said he didn't know. He didn't know he had such a talent for being a pilot, and he said he never knew his mother or his father very well and so he didn't know if it came from either of them. After that, we kept seeing eachother around and soon became friends. I began helping him study and practice for tests and simulators, giving him tips and just showing him whatever I could.'

'He was a great pilot, the best I've ever seen in fact, and as I got to know him more and more, we became closer in a brother kind of way. Neither of us really had much for family, and we were both kinda left alone at the same age in our lives, and I guess we found a lot of our similarities through that and the Gairasens: and that our mothers were no longer around. Keith's mother left him when he was young and mine was declared dead after her ship had gone missing in space."

Allura's expression turned to sympathy. "I'm sorry." She said, her eyes glancing down, knowing what it was like to lose a mother. Shiro looked at her and saw her lowered gaze, "Thanks." He said, also lowering his own gaze at remembering his own mother. "Anyway," he continued, "me and Keith kinda just remained really close ever since then. The last time I saw him was the day before we launched for Curboros."

Shiro was silent for a moment, as was Allura. "Well," Allura said, "thank you for sharing your tale Shiro." She said gratefully. "Yeah, thanks for bringing it up. It brought back some good memories." Shiro said with a smile. "Good." Allura said with a smile of her own, and she then stood up and said, "Well, I think I'm going to go to the kitchen and see if Hunk is making any more of those -what are they called? Cruise nots?"

Shiro chuckled, "I think you mean croissants." He said with a humoris smile. "Ah yes, that's it. Croissants." Allura said, her blue eyes brightening with clarity. "Would you like to come?" She then asked. Shiro hesitated, then said kindly, "I think I'll stay here a little longer, thanks though."

"Are you sure?" Allura asked. "Yeah." Shiro said, giving her a half smile. Allura nodded and with that walked out of the room.

After a moment, Shiro looked back at the healing pod and at Keith. He slept soundly, barely making any sound at all. Shiro sighed again, wishing he could forget how close his friend had come to death, and wishing to forget the sight of his blood on his hands. For some reason, Shiro felt guilty, like it was all his fault. He knew that the others would say it wasn't, and they were probably right. It was just the weight of someone you cared about getting hurt. Shiro heard his own stomach growl, then picked up the plate of food and ate, although he wasn't feeling all to hungry, and his effort to eat was in vain.

Lance stared at the screen. Low health, one on one. This was his moment, though it all felt dull. He had been trying to beat the final boss of this level on the video game Pidge and him got at the space mall for days now. He was really close now, but like all the other times, he died just before the last blow to end the boss. He didn't fling his arms up like he had done so many times before, but just sat back against his room door. He felt depressed. Keith almost died today, and even though Lance was glad he was alive and healing, the effect it had on him was heavy.

But to be real, this wasn't the first time Keith had come close to death. Everyone had had their own near death experience. Like what Lance had told Keith, this wasn't a participation game, this was war. Someone was going to get hurt, and someone was going to die. The thought wasn't pleasant, and Lance pushed it away uneasily. He felt uneasy. He wonder what time it was, and looking at the clock on his wall he gasped to find that it was near midnight. Near mid night and not a wink of sleep. Lance just didn't feel all that tired, but knowing he had a big day tomorrow, he shut off the game council and went to bed, but even as he tossed and turned, he couldn't fall asleep.

After what seemed like hours past, Lance finally got up, grabbed his jacket and walked out of his room. Maybe a good walk around would put himself as easy and let him sleep. Lance wandered through the halls of the castle. It was dark, but he could see just enough to know where he was at and where he was going. He walked through the kitchen, past the training deck door and looked out a few windows in some of the halls. He went into the bay and talked to Red a bit, then let his feet lead him down more halls. He walked for a good long while and still didn't feel tired, but he continued on, until he found that he was passing the door to the infirmary.

Lance blinked, not realizing that his feet had took him here. At first he was planning on walking past, but then he wonder how his friend Keith was doing. He remembered how terrified he'd been when he thought Keith was dead, and that after all that he hadn't stuck around. He had been very quiet at dinner and had been thinking about his friend all day. After a quick decision, Lance entered the infirmary. Lance came in a few steps until he saw Shiro, half asleep, and sitting on the stairs opposite side of Keith's pod. Shiro sat with his head in the palm of his hand, and the elbow of that hand on his knee. His head wasn't falling out of his hand, but was half in and half out and a blanket was around his shoulders.

"Shiro?" Lance said, walking towards the leader of Voltron. Shiro's mostly closed eyes suddenly opened and he straightened, looking at Lance in a daze. "Huh? Lance? What are you doing up so late?" He asked. Lance came to Shiro with a questioning look. "Why am I up? Why are you up? Have you, been sitting here all night?" Lance asked, bewildered at how exhausted Shiro looked. "Um, yeah I guess." Shiro said, rubbing his eyes, "I didn't mean to doze off though." He covered up his exhaustion with a chuckle and smile, but it was a shallow smile and chuckle.

After looking Shiro over a little, Lance sat down next to him, following Shiro's gaze, which was now set on the only at work pod in the room. Lance examined Shiro's face and eyes. He was indeed exhausted, and looked very tired but forbid himself to sleep. Lance sighed, his gaze falling away from both Shiro and Keith. "He's gonna be alright Shiro." Lance said, his voice sincere as he looked at Shiro. "He's on the road to recovery."

"I know…." Shiro replied, nodding to show his confidence. "I just don't want Keith to be alone when he wakes up." Shiro said.

Lance glanced from Shiro to Keith, and nodded. "I know. But he's probably not gonna heal in a day you know." Lance said with a slight shrug. Shiro looked at him, never really having thought of that. "It's probably gonna take time," Lance continued, "but when he does wake up, we'll all be here for him, just like how we were there for you, and all of you were there for me. We won't forget about Keith, never have, never will, and we know he'll never forget any of us. He may not be one of the paladins of Voltron right now, but he's still family, and still our friend."

Shiro looked at Lance with his eyes with the smallest smile at hearing all this. He knew that Lance was far more than what he seemed on the outside. If there was one think about Lance that was very true, it was that he usually wore his opinion on his sleeve, and he handed his heart to those he loved. Behind all the goofy, silly and just plain Lance, on the inside there was something far greater. Shiro hoped he would be able to see more of this Lance in the future. Shiro and Lance were silent for a while, both content in it. But in the midst of their silents, they actually began to slowly doze off, both leaning away from eachother until they were inches from the floor. Just as they both were about to actually touch the floor though, both snapped back awake and straightened, blinking and shaking their heads a little. Shiro looked at Lance with his eyes to see if he had done the same thing he did. Lance did the same, wondering the same thing. After a minute, they both chuckled at their own exhaustion.

"We should probably both get to bed." Lance said, standing up. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Also, how did this blanket get on me?" Shiro asked, now noticing the warm blanket around his shoulders. "I think Hunk came in sometime and must have put it on when he found you half asleep. It it a little chilly in here. And I think Pidge checked Keith's vitals and said he would probably be fully recovered in about three days or so." Lance said, beginning to walk out. Shiro glanced at the blanket, then at Keith in his pod, then with a small smile, got up and followed Lance out, but not before giving one last glance at Keith. And as Shiro walked to his room that night, a question came out of the blue in his mind: who was his family? And Shiro just simply answered, _this is my family._

 _*Note to readers* I'll spare you guys a cliff hanger for this chapter and let you breath a bit :) I'll try to post new chapters every week if I can and catch as many errors as I'm capible of seeing. So for this chapter, I hope you guys emjoyed it and stay tuned, cuz more excitement is on its way! ;D_

 _P.S. thank you guys so much for reading and telling me how much you were eager for the next chapter! I screamed in my room when I found out how many people had commented a night after I posted the first chapter -mostly because I thought no one would read it- and it's always exiting when someone gives a thumbs up to your fanfic. Ayway, thank you, thank you very much! :D_


	3. Chapter three

Good to be back

Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Allura all huddle in front of Keith's pod, watching him closely. Pidge was in the middle, with her hands on the glass to support herself as everyone leaned in. Lance was on Pidge's left, and Hunk as standing quite close to him. Allura was on the other side of Pidge, looking at Keith's still face in patients. Shiro was behind them all, his height helping him see Keith over the others. Lance tapped his foot impatiently with crossed arms as he looked at Keith anxiously. "He's breathing, right?" Hunk asked, looking closely at Keith's very still (but breathing) form.

"Yes Hunk," Lance replied, "he's breathing."

"I wonder how comfortable it is in there." Pidge said, having never been in one of the healing pods before. Yet again, she kinda hoped she would never have too. Lance gave a small grown. "Uhg, come on." He reached up to tap the button that opens up the pod. "Not yet," Allura quickly said, smacking his hand away, but not hard or mean, "a few more ticks." She said. "A few more ticks? How much more better can he get in a few more ticks? The anticipation is killing me!" Lance said impatiently. Shiro hid a smile. It was crazy how much Lance sounded like Keith when he had been in the healing pod.

They all waited for a little longer, when suddenly, Lance caught a whiff of the air, sniffed, then asked, "Is something burning?" Hunk suddenly gasped saying frantically, "My Chocolate Shoo Flay!" He then darted out of the room and to the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps fading away as he disappeared down the hall. Everyone, who had watched Hunk leave in such a hurry, looked at one another and not knowing what in space he was talking about, shrugged, then went back to waiting.

Lance leaned against the wall and tapped his finger, arms still crossed, Allura sat down on the stairs and fiddled with her nails, Pidge sat on Allura's right and tinkered around on a space tablet, and Shiro stood patiently in front of the pod. Hunk came back in a few minutes, Coran coming with him. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hunk sat down next to Pidge, while Coran came and sat next to Allura.

Several minutes passed, but then, a soft beep echoed through the room. Everyone's heads perked up as they looked over to Keith's pod. Before they knew it, the glass was fading away, the compressed air inside finally escaping. Keith's form slowly fell forward, and he was caught in Shiro's arms.

"Keith?" Shiro asked, turning him around and setting him down on the ground and in his lap, holding his head like how he had done when he and Ulaz had pulled Keith out of the pile of rocks and pool of blood. Keith's closed eyes twitched slightly at the sound of his name, then flickered open and he looked up at Shiro, Allura, Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Coran with slightly tired eyes. They looked back at him, silent and unsure, as if waiting for him to say something and unsure if he was alright. To show that he was, Keith gave them a rare, teeth showing smile as he said, "Hey." Shiro, Allura, Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Coran all took in a happy and excited breath as they all said at once, _"KEITH!"_

They all lifted Keith up and wrapped him in one big hug, just like they had done when he left team Voltron. It felt good, and Keith was soon laughing in their loving embrace. "I thought I'd never see you guys again." He said, remembering when he blacked out in the moments he thought would be his last. "You scared the live'n life out of us!" Lance said, squeezing Keith tighter, to which Keith had to give a small wheezing breath of air. Hunk was just about in tears of joy at Keith's recovery. "Promise you'll never scare us like that again!" Hunk said, also squeezing Keith tighter.

"What do you mean? You got me in the pods in time, right?" Keith asked, his breath wheezing out a little at how tightly Lance and Hunk were now hugging him. "You stopped breath and your heart stopped for a few seconds, but it felt like minutes." Pidge said, who thankfully didn't squeeze Keith as she hugged him, and she was only tall enough to put her arms around his torso, but she pressed her head against him happily. "Speaking of heart and breathing stopping, can Lance and Hunk please stop squeezing so hard." Keith said, in both a humorous but out of breath voice.

"Sorry." Both Lance and Hunk said loosening up and letting go of Keith, as did everyone else. Shiro helped Keith to his feet. Keith was able to stand for a bit, but when he tried to take a step forward his weakened legs buckled and he would have fallen to the floor if Shiro hadn't caught him. Shiro put Keith's left arm around his neck so Keith could lean on him. "How long was I out?" Keith asked, his voice having a drowsy trail to it.

"Four days." Allura said. "What about Ulaz and that other Blade? Did they get out too?" Keith asked, looking at Shiro for this question. "Yes," Shiro answered, rather quickly, "but they left when you were put in the healing pod. Are you hungry?" Shiro seemed to want to switch to a different topic quite quickly, Allura noticed, and she wondered how he felt about Ulaz, who had wanted to leave Keith behind. Or perhaps 'wanted' wasn't the right word.

"Uh, yeah. I could eat something." Keith's answer to Shiro's question broke Allura from her thoughts. "Perfect, cuz guess what?" Hunk asked, his voice filled with contained excitement. _"What?"_ Everyone asked at the same time, but all six of them had a good idea of what Hunk was gonna say.

"I made a hole special breakfast!" Hunk said as they all sat at a table with plates of food on it. "...lunch." Hunk corrected, "...dinner. What time is it?" Hunk asked as he scratched the back of his head, wanting to know what catigory this meal was in. "About 2:20 in the afternoon in Altain time." Coran said, looking at a small watch he always kept in his vest. "I guess that makes this a late lunch and an early dinner." Lance said. "Linner." Shiro added aloud, and the paladins chuckled while Allura and Coran looked at each other in somewhat confusion, but they both shrugged anyway, guessing it was an Earth thing.

They all sat at the table, Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Coran sat on the left side while Shiro, Keith and Allura sat on the right. Keith had changed into his normal clothing, and the mice had come up to him and were pressing their muzzles against his fingers and hands, showing their affection. He pet each one of them gently on the head, and let them have a bit of his food.

The food was very good, and the conversation even more so. They all had friendly conversation, telling jokes and funny stories. It was all so much more lively now that the whole team was back together again. It was far better than the bleak meals Keith had either alone or with the Blade of Mormora warriors. Everyone was laughing and having fun, each story and joke better than the last.

Everyone except for Shiro and Keith had a story to tell. As much as Shiro and Keith secretly tried, neither could find a story worth telling to the group; one that was happy at least. So they both kept silent, except to laugh, remark or ask a question. Soon, they found the time had flown by. It wasn't too late, but it was indeed getting late. "Well, we did miss you Keith." Allura said, looking at Keith from across Shiro. "We always do." Shiro added and put a comforting hand on Keith's shoulder with a smile. Keith smiled. "I've missed you guys too. It feels good to be around you all again." He said, looking around at everyone at the table.

The table was silent for a minute, until Shiro broke the silence saying, "Well, you should probably get some rest. You look a little tired." He said to Keith. Keith almost wanted to say he wasn't tired, but with a full belly and at easy mind, he found he'd be lying if he did. With a sigh and nod, and he pushed himself from the table in his chair and made an effort to stand. But Keith ended up barely able to get out of his chair since standing from a sitting position puts much more work into the legs than standing or perhaps even walking. Everyone could see Keith was a little annoyed by this, and that's when Pidge suddenly perked up. "Oh hey, that reminds me!" She said, and she stood up and dashed out of the room, "Stay there, I have something that can help with that!" She said as she dashed out the doors.

Everyone waited only a few minutes until Pidge returned, and she was carrying two identical things in her arms. They looked like some kind of machinery. "I guessed you would have trouble walking after all that time in the healing pod, so I made you these to help you walk without using crutches." Pidge said, showing Keith what she had made. They were leg sprains, which could bend and support the leg. They had a boot like structure, but went higher up in the leg to the thigh for better support. They looked like they could adjust to whatever length and side the leg was, and they had Altean looking lights on the bending joins on the knees and ankles.

"They're made to support more of your weight and help your legs and bones recover their strength by moving and having more activity. Way better than crutches if you ask me." Pidge said. Keith looked at them in both awe and feeling touched that Pidge made it just for him. Pidge helped Keith put the leg braces on and showed him how to turn them on. After all this was done, which barely took two minutes, Keith was ready to try them out. They fit his legs perfectly with the help of the adjusters but like mostly anything that goes around one's legs it did feel different. The braces were cued to move when the seniors felt the muscles in the leg tense and move, and as Keith slowly and cautiously stood up out of his chair, the movements were smooth.

Keith stood for a while, then took a small step. Then another, and another, all the time getting more and more farther until he was nearly his normal stride length. The only sound the braces made was the gentle clicking of the gears as they moved. Keith chuckled, "They're awesome Pidge. Thanks." He said, looking from the braces around his legs to Pidge's proud and happy face. "You made these in just three days?" He asked. "Well actually," Pidge said with a modest shrug, "the idea didn't come to me until you'd already been in the pod for a day, so technically I only had two days to finish them. But if they keep working, and if you keep walking around and using them everyday, you won't need them after a few days."

Keith smiled as her gratefully, "Thanks Pidge. It means a lot." Pidge just smiled and adjusted her glasses. "I'm not sure if I just want to head straight to bed now. Maybe I'll hit the training deck and-"

"Actually, you probably should get to bed," Allura said, "you just recovered from some critical injuries and although you slept in the healing pod, you should let your body have one more day of rest before strengthening it back up again." Keith's face and shoulder gave the impression that he was slightly discouraged by this. "The princes is probably right Keith," Shiro said, "tomorrow is a new day and you'll be able to train til your heart's content."

The room echoed with a few chuckles. Keith sighed, "Alright fine. I guess I can hold it off til tomorrow." Keith said, already setting a plan up for what he would do for tomorrow's exercise. "I'll help you guys clean up." With everyone's help, the table was soon cleaned spotless and the dishes washed and put away. Then with a series of cheery good-night's from person to person, everyone headed off to their rooms. "Good to have you back Keith." Lance said with a wave to Keith. "Good to be back." Keith replied, exchanging Lance's wave with his own.

Once in his room, Keith didn't change out of cloths for bed, but just took off his jacket and set it on the coat hook on the wall opposite the bed. But when Keith felt his belt for his dagger, he suddenly found that it wasn't with him. A moment of confusion went through his mind until he remembered that he had lost it when it crashed through the window of that Gulra outpost. It upset him quite a bit, not just because that dagger was very important to him, but Ulaz probably wouldn't give him another. What if Ulaz wouldn't let Keith back into the Blades because he did have his dagger?

Keith's once at rest mind was now getting all jumbled up in thoughts. If he didn't get back into the Blades, where would he go. He knew Voltron was always there for him, but he didn't want to just be standing around and feeling useless. He forced out a heavy sigh and lay down on his bed, and after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling of his bunk, he drifted into the dark world of sleep. But his dreams were far from dark. While hours had past while he was sleeping the dream made it seem like seconds, but they were seconds that would change Keith's life forever.

Smiling faces, laughing voices, wonderful and sweet memories. They all danced through Keith's mind's eye. Memories Keith had long forgotten until now came flooding back as if they had been waiting to be announced to come back. A father's words. A mother's gentle laugh. A family's moments. They were all flooding back and overwhelming Keith. Each flash back came and went, but they were too fast to really actually see what was going on, and the voices were blurred together and speaking so fast that Keith couldn't hear what they were saying. That is until one voice said a both familiar and alien word, "Corsant." And the word echoed in Keith's mind. "Corsant...Corsant...Corsant…." Suddenly all the memories were balled up, and shoved into darkness as if forced back into hiding.

Keith woke from the dream of memories with a start and he sat straight up in his bed, breathing heavily. "Corsant." He said, the word still fresh in his mind. "Corsant?" He asked, as if asking himself what that meant. Keith then brightened with remembrance as he looked straight ahead at nothing in particular. "Corsant!" Keith said. He threw back his covers and leaped off his bed, the leg braces keeping him from falling to the ground; though he did stumble to the door. After getting to the door, Keith opened it and rushed out, not even grabbing his jacket from its hook on the wall. He ran out into the hall and nearly ran into Lance.

Lance yelped at Keith's sudden appearance, jumping back a foot. "Wow! Keith? What's wrong?!" Lance asked when he saw Keith's scattered mind expression. "Where's Coran?" Keith asked hurriedly. "Uh, probably at the bridge," Lance said, "why? What's going on?" Keith didn't answer. He was already running away and to the bridge. Despite the leg braces, Keith got to the bridge fairly quick, but was quite out of breath.

"Keith?" Allura asked, standing in the middle of the room. "What's the matter? Are you alright?" She came to Keith with a concerned look. Keith was bent over, trying to catch his breath. "I...I remembered something…." Keith said through his gasps of air. Shiro, who had been sitting his his chair at the head of the bridge and had stood up when he heard Keith's name, now took a few steps forward. "Remembered what?" Shiro asked, coming to Keith and Allura. Keith regained most of his breath and now stood up straight, looking at Shiro and Allura. "My family."

note to readers* _another cliff hanger, sorry, but hopefully it's not unbearable, and if it is, hang in there ;D I thought I'd at least get all that out of the way so the chapter wouldn't be huge! Besides, the next one is gonna be very fun and probably a little challenging to write. Thanks for all your support guys! :D_


	4. Chapter four

Chapter four 

Leaving once again

"Keith, are you sure?" Shiro asked, concern and caution in his voice. "Yes. I'm positive." Keith said, looking sincerely at Shiro. "Allura," Keith looked to Allura now, "does the word Corsant mean anything to you?" He asked. Allura paused, thinking. "As a matter of fact it does. It's a planet, in the outer rim of the third solar system." Allura said, walking to her spot in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes, being her energy and power into focus, then made the universe come up around them in a holographic map.

They were surrounded by three solar systems, all forming the three points of a triangle. Allura went to one, then after zooming into that solar system, waved her hand through the air, whisking them off to the system's far border. "Here," she said, pointing at a small, round planet, "Corsant." Keith and Shiro both were beside her now and looked at the planet on the map. "You know how Shiro only remembered how he escaped from the Gulra until he was put in the healing pod?" Keith asked, looking at Shiro and Allura. They both looked at him, then nodded. "Well, I think the healing pod healed whatever part of my mind that was broken and kept me from remembering my past; and my family."

"But Keith," Shiro said, taking another step forward, "how do you know they're still there?"

"I don't," Keith said, looking at Shiro again, "but if they are…. I just have to go there and see if they're there. I know my mother is Gulra, so maybe I'll find her there. If not at least I can find a clue."

"What do you mean?" Allura asked, looking at Keith with a raised eyebrow. "My memories are all kinda still scattered in my head. The only thing that sounded really familiar that I can remember right now is Corsant. I'm not sure what it means, but I know it's a planet, and I have to try." Keith said. He then began to walk away, planning to leave the castle of lions and set a course for Corsant.

"Keith wait," Shiro said, stopping Keith with a firm hand on his shoulder, "you just got out of the healing pod and still regaining your strength. Maybe going right away isn't the best option." Keith turned around slightly just so he could look back at Shiro with pleading eyes, "Shiro, please. I have to do this. This is the first actual clue I have to see if my mother is alive. I have to try." Keith said this with a pleading voice. Shiro shook his head, "You don't even remember everything Keith. Who knows how much more you might remember if anything more at all."

Keith looked down at the ground in dismay, but then looked up once again in pleading. "Shiro, I know that you and team Voltron are my family. But I'm tired of of not knowing." Keith said turning to face Shiro straight on, his expression one of pleading. Shiro let his hand fall from Keith's shoulder as the young boy turned to face him. "It just might not be the right time Keith." Shiro said, his voice full of sympathy but he was pretty unwavering in what he wanted Keith to do. "Now is the perfect time because no one is waiting or depending on me." Keith said, his voice raising only slightly.

Shiro blinked, and Keith answered his unspoken question. "I lost my Mamora's dagger, and Ulaz probably won't give me another to let me rejoin the Blades. So until either I find it or if they give me another, I'm no longer one of them and they honestly don't need me. Team Voltron doesn't need me either-"

"Keith-"

"So my only option is to try and find my home. To find my mother. To see if she's alive…. I've wondered for so long if she's even alive, one's my chance to find out." Shiro looked away from Keith, his eyes showing he somehow understood what Keith felt. "Please Shiro. Let me go." Keith said.

Allura looked from Shiro to Keith. She understood where Shiro was coming from and why he didn't want Keith to leave, but she also understood to some extent how Keith felt. If she had the chance to get back her own family, she would probably have been out the door despite what Shiro or anyone else would try to say to stop her.

"I'm sorry Keith," Shiro said, and he looked back up at Keith, his eyes showing that he was hurt inside by what he had to say, "but you need to stay here. At least until you've fully recovered." With that, Shiro walked past Keith and out of the room. Shiro knew that Keith wanted answers, and he knew how it felt to feel helpless and just stand around and do nothing. He knew what it was like to want so desperately to go look for someone. To hope that their alive. To long for the truth.

"Shiro please!" Keith spoke from where he stood, "They're out there! Just let me find them!" At those words, Shiro stopped, and was suddenly thrown into a flashback of his own past. Shiro was being guided to a car to take him home. It was weeks after his mother's ship had gone missing on one of her missions, and he was no older than seven. He had broken into the Galaxy Garrisons many times in an attempt to find out as much as he could about his mother's mission. These attempts would often end up in Shiro being caught and brought back home by a friend of his mother's; who had looked after him for a while after his mother was declared missing, and soon to be declared dead if they found no trace of her or her ship.

Shiro had dragged his feet the hold way to the car, but just before getting in, he turned to the woman who was taking him home. "She's still out there," Shiro had told her, tugging on her hand, "just let me find her." The woman knelt down and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry Shiro," she said, "but I'm afraid there's just nothing you can do."

Shiro was now brought back to the present. Keith was holding his breath, waiting to see if Shiro would change his mind, but Shiro just walked out of the room, and the doors gently closed behind him. Keith and Allura stood silent for a moment. With a heavy sigh, Keith walked out through the doors. Allura stood there silently for a few minutes, then went back to the work she was doing, but with a slightly distracted mind. A few minutes later, she was walking through the halls looking for Coran. Because her mind was still on other things, the deep voice that said her name as she came around the corner surprised her a good deal.

"Princess Allura," Ulaz said, his mask on and standing at the end of one of the halls Allura was walking down. Allura jumped nearly out of her skin at the sudden voice that smacked her out of every thought she was thinking. "Oh, Ulaz," Allura said, regaining her normal look and voice, "I wasn't aware you were on board today. Is something wrong?"

"No," Ulaz said, and his answer puzzled Allura a little, "I've come to see if the boy has woken up yet."

"Keith?" Allura asked, thinking it odd that Ulaz didn't use his name but brushing that aside, "Yes, he just woke yesterday. But I'm afraid he's still healing from his injuries. He'll need a few days before he can rejoin the Blades."

"Good." Ulaz said, as if that was all he wanted to know, but he didn't shift his body to walk away. He stood there silently. Allura looked at him questioningly for a second before Ulaz spoke, saying, "When you see Keith next, would you give him this." Ulaz held out Keith's Mamora's dagger, and Allura was struck with confusion. "It took a great deal of time, but we recovered his blade. He will no doubt want it back." Ulaz said. "I wasn't aware that he lost it." Allura said, taking the blade gently. "I will give it to him the next time I see him." Allura said, looking up at Ulaz. Ulaz nodded, then turned and walked away.

"Ulaz," Allura said, and he stopped and turned his head to see what she was going to say, "thank you." Allura's thanks caught the warrior off guard slightly, but he then nodded again, more slowly this time, then continued to walk away. Right before he could disappear from Allura's sight though, Shiro appeared around the corner and stopped short when he saw Ulaz. Ulaz also stopped. They looked at eachother for a while. Shiro's expression was unreadable, and Ulaz's mask hid his own. After a brief stare, Shiro continued walking, as did Ulaz. They both passed each other in silents, and both soon disappeared from Allura's view. She knew there was some sort of tension between them, but of what kind she wasn't entirely sure. She hoped that whatever feelings they had about each other that it wouldn't affect how they worked together.

Allura looked down at the dagger. She knew she should find Keith and give it to him, but part of her was afraid of seeing him leave again. The Blade of Mamora weren't Voltron, they wouldn't go back for just one person. They were harder than Voltron, they knew that this war was bigger than any one of them and were willing to do what it took to make their mission successful; so did Keith. But it just made Allura sick to think that they might leave him behind, like they almost had done if Shiro hadn't intervened. As she walked down the halls, she suddenly saw Keith come around the corner and she hid the dagger from his view. She just about held her breath as he passed, but thankfully he didn't notice her much. Allura felt guilty hiding this from him, but she just didn't know which to choose at the moment, her heart, or her duty.

Later on that night, Keith lay in his bed. He couldn't sleep, even if he had spent the whole day on the training deck. He hadn't seen many of the others today, not Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Coran or Allura really. Not even Shiro had seen him much throughout the day. He had somewhat secluded himself from them, but not on purpose. The whole day he had been thinking about that planet, and what lay on it's surface. He wondered how much Gulra he was. He guessed he wasn't half, because he had seen other half Gulran people and he didn't look anything like them. He wonder if his mother was Gulra, and if so, how did she meet his dad?

Keith forced out a sigh and just tried to close his eyes. He was soon drifting off to sleep, and was greeted by another series of flashbacks coming and going too fast to truly recall. The word Corsant kept ringing in his mind along with the voices and flashing images. The word kept ringing louder and louder until it woke Keith up in the middle of the night, and the voices still whispering in his mind. It snapped him away and he sat straight up in his bed like before. That was it!

Keith got up, put on his jacket and grabbed a bag barely filled with some of his belongings and snuck to the kitchen. He grabbed some food and water, and turned down one of the halls to go to the escape pods. Keith jumped slightly when he saw Allura standing in the hall. "Allura?!" He said, surprised to see her up. "What are you doing up?" He asked, trying to hid the bag he was carrying behind the corner. "I suppose I could ask you the same question if I didn't already know." Allura said. Keith sighed, "Allura," he said, "I just can't wait any more. I have to know if there's anyone of my family out there. And if there is...I just have to know."

"I know…." Allura said, her gaze shifting down. She then took from behind her back a familiar dagger. Keith's jaw dropped at seeing his Mamora's dagger. "How did you…." he started. "Ulaz came earlier today and asked me to give it back to you." Allura said, looking at the dagger and offering it to Keith.

Keith took the dagger, then looked at Allura questioningly. "Why are you giving it to me now?" He asked. Allura breathed in. "I thought that if I gave it to you, you might feel a responsibility to the Blades and go back to them, but then I realized you'd be leaving us anyway, either to go back to them or find your family. I knew that either way you wouldn't stay very long...but I didn't want you to go without your dagger." Allura looked back up at Keith. She would miss him, as would the Paladins, and Coran, and the mice. She understood why he had to leave in secret. Shiro would never let him go if he knew where Keith was planing on going. Keith would miss all of them too. He realized that Allura was right, whether going to the Blades or finding his family, he was still gonna be leaving, once again. He sighed, holding his dagger closer to him.

"Thank you Allura. This means a lot to me. You guys mean a lot to me. I'm glad I get to call you and everyone else my friends." Keith looked up at Allura and smiled. She smiled back, then came up to him and threw her arms around his neck. He put his bad down so he could put his free hand around her and exchanged her embrace with his own. They both stood like that for a minute, then pulled away. Keith, with a final smile at Allura, picked up his bag, threw it over his shoulder and walked past Allura and down the hall.

Keith made his way to the escape pods, loaded one with his belongings, then set off. As Keith exited the castle of Lions and set a course for Corsant, he felt guilty for leaving without saying goodbye to everyone else, but then made himself a promise that he would come back and see them again, soon.

Allura watched as Keith's pod flew away into space. She knew Shiro wouldn't approve of him going alone, and to be honest she wasn't too thrilled about it either, but she also knew that Keith could in fact handle himself very well. She couldn't by any means guarantee his safety, but she knew that no matter where anyone goes, they're never alone.


	5. Chapter five

Chapter five 

Mad pursuit

Shiro woke up feeling rather sick. His forehead was rather hot and he found he'd been sweating. He sat up, not exactly sure what was wrong with him. He lifted his hand to feel his forehead, but his hand never touched his skin. Shiro stared at the red liquid on his hand. He lifted the other to see if it was the same. It was, to his dread, the same red color. Shiro heard some kind of water drip to the ground to his right, and he looked to see what was causing the leak. It wasn't a leak.

There, standing in a small pool of red liquid, dressed in his Mamora suit, was Keith. His right hand and forearm were soaked in the blood, the forearm and hand still crushed. The right side of his head was still bleeding, staining his clothes and his face with the red liquid. Shiro didn't know how Keith was standing since he thought his legs had been crushed. Keith stared at the door at first, but then turned his head to look at Shiro, one eye colored red by the blood. Shiro was finding his breath being caught in his chest. Keith spoke, but his voice was faint and weak, just like it had been when he was down on that planet. 'Corsant." Keith said, 'Corsant.' Shiro was all the sudden thrown out of the nightmare, but not before a series of flashbacks flooded his mind's eye and went past far too quickly to truly see.

Shiro sat straight up with a gasp. He looked to the place Keith had been standing. No Keith. He looked at his hands. No blood. Shiro lay back on his bed and pillow with a sigh. Why was he always haunted by nightmares of the past? What were those flashbacks that he couldn't quite recall? Shiro pushed the thought of his past away and got up and got dressed. He walked through the halls of the ship to the kitchen, where he hoped to find something to eat. Everyone was in the kitchen except for Coran and Allura...and Keith.

Shiro guesses Keith was out on the training deck, but when he walked past the doors and took a peek inside, no one was there. Shiro found this rather odd. Was Keith still in bed? Allura seemed to half speed walk half sneak past him, but Shiro caught her before she could get around the corner. "Princess," Shiro asked, and Allura stopped and looked at him in a rather odd way, as if nervous, "have you seen Keith this morning?"

"Um no," she responded, "not this morning. No." She seemed anxious, and Shiro grew suspicious.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "Oh yes. Just find." Allura responded quickly in not her normal voice. Something was up. "Are you sure?" Shiro pressed, and at this, Allura relaxed her tense shoulders in defeat. "No. I'm worried about Keith." She said. Shiro just gave a soft and comforting smile, "Don't worry," He said, putting a hand on Allura's shoulder as he walked past her, "Keith is almost fully healed. He'll be up on his own legs in no time."

"It's not that." Allura said quietly, looking down at the ground. Shiro stopped at hearing her say this, confusion striking him. He looked back at her, this confusion showing on his expression. "What do you mean?" He asked. Allura sighed, "Keith left." She said. Shiro froze, as if his own heart had stopped. "When?" He asked, not in his calm and flexible tone, but in a tense and almost dreading tone. "Last night." Allura said, avoiding Shiro's eyes. "Where?!" Shiro asked, taking a step closer. Allura looked up finally at him, her bright blue eyes meeting his dark ones.

In her eyes, he could tell what she was saying. He could take a pretty good guess of where Keith was headed. Corsant. Shiro at first looked at Allura with understanding, but not enough to stay put. Shiro walked determinedly past Allura, not at all in a mean or grudgingly way, but on a mission. Allura followed him. "Shiro," she said, walking along side Shiro, "I know you probably hate me right now, but-"

"Allura," Shiro said, stopping and looked at her, stunned by her words, "I could never hate you, no matter what you ever do." Allura, who had stopped also, looked at him with slightly surprised but also touched eyes. His words reminded her of her father.

"I just need to go after him." Shiro said sincerely, putting a hand on her shoulder. Allura looked at him with the same expression for a minute, then got over it with a nod, resuming her leader's solemn look. Just like with Keith, she wouldn't stop Shiro from leaving, but she did say, "Don't try to stop him Shiro. Just bring him back when it's over."

Shiro blinked. He knew what she meant. She wanted Shiro to help Keith find his family and bring him back with them if he could, but Shiro just wanted to bring Keith back as soon as possible. Shiro nodded all the same, then said as he walked away, "I'll be back soon...hopefully."

"And we'll be here...for sure." Allura said.

Shiro ran to the Black Lion in full haste. If Keith left last night, he wouldn't be far from Corsant; maybe he was already there. Shiro had to find him. He had always felt some kind of responsibility to Keith, and he cared about him more than he could ever know.

Keith walked through the streets of the main city on Corsant. It was quieter at this time in the day, and he wasn't quite sure where to go. He didn't have a clue of where to start, so he had been walking through the city. He had visteted a few other cities already, but had found nothing. Nothing familiar. None of this felt familiar. He walked on for many minutes, looking around. He was dressed in his normal clothes, which he felt he hadn't worn out in public for a while, but he was draped in a dark cloak and hood.

He walked around, looking at every sign, at almost every face, but nothing brought back a spark of remembrance or familiarity. He wandered around to the city's park, and here there were a few more aliens around, but only by a dozen. He sighed in frustration and sat on a bench overlooking a small fountain. He listened to the clear, blue water and watched it move. He found himself missing the lush green grass of earth. While there were grasses on these planets, he knew it wasn't the same. Yet again, Keith hadn't really felt like he truly belonged on earth, and that could have been because of his Gulran descendant. Once again he wondered how he got to earth, how his mother met his father. He had so many unanswered questions, and so many things in his life that didn't make sense.

It was about sunset now, and the water of the fountain was cast in both shadows and lights. The gold of the sun made the water sparkle and shine with light, and Keith was facing in the direction of the sun. As he listened to the water trickle and watched it's ever moving form, he suddenly felt something, something that pulled him from his thoughts.

The thing he was feeling, was just on the border of familiar, and yet, it wasn't quite recognizable. Try as hard as he did, he couldn't summon what the feeling was. It was somewhat like the feeling you get, when you've forgotten something, and are just barely remembering it to the point where it's so close, yet so far away. Keith waited but found it hard to focus. He felt restless and wished that whatever was there, would just come already. That's when he closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and repeated the three most familiar words in his mind.

 _'Patients, yields, focus.'_

Keith felt himself relax as he exhaled, and he no longer felt so rushed as he did before. He focused on the sound of the water, and felt the warmth of the sun despite the rather autumn like weather. He listened and waited. Suddenly, he heard a voice, calling to him from far away. The voice was that of a woman, and she called his name, as if looking for him.

Keith opened his eyes, the voice still ringing in his mind: so much so, that he thought the voice was real. He looked around in search of the person, until the shadow of a woman walked across the blue water and stone statue of the fountain. He traced the shadow to it's source, and saw a woman walking on the far side of the fountain. Her features were blacked out by the sun's bright light, but he could tell she had long hair, and she walked with such grace and such lightness, that Keith almost thought she was walking in slow motion. And to some extent, she was, because Keith had been slowly slipping into a flashback, gently, and peacefully, like falling asleep.

A very young version of himself, crouched behind the stone wall of the fountain, hiding. He peaked out from where he was hiding to look at the woman who was making her way around the fountain. Seeing she was getting too close and would see him, he scooted away and managed to get all the way on the other side of the fountain. Keith watched himself hide behind a bench, waiting for the woman to come back to his side. But instead, she walked away, calling his name still. Seeing he would lose her and afraid of being left behind, Keith's younger self quickly and sneakily made his way after her.

Keith watched the little boy sneak past the very bench he was sitting on and came up close behind the woman. He then wrapped his arms around her leg with a small exclamation. She jumped at this a little, but then chuckled at seeing Keith's playful look. She scooped him up and twirled around with him in her arms. "Were you hiding this whole time?" She asked. Keith nodded with a smile and the woman chuckled, shaking her head. "Come on, we need to get to back to the garage before our pod leaves without us."

Keith watched as both who he assumed was his mother and himself fade away as they began to walk out of the park. Keith instantly got up off the bench and went in the direction they had gone. He slowly began to remember the way. As he came to the street that marked the border and end of the park, he stopped, remembering how he would reach up and hold his mother's hand as they walked across the street. She knew when it was safe to cross and always required him to hold her hand when doing so. Keith walked across the street, not minding some of the traffic that honked an alien horn at him.

He made it to the other side, and walked along the sidewalk, which went in the same direction he had been walking. His eyes trailed to the wall of the the building he was walking past. The creases in the walls made shadows, and Keith remembered how he liked tracing them with his finger as they walked along. He let the tips of his fingers slide across the stone. He was so small back then, he had had to reach his hand a little high in order to touch the shadows. Now, he was tall enough to where he just put his fingers to the wall and let them drag along the same shadows. Keith watched his fingers slide across the wall until he reached the corner of the block.

He stopped, looking around for another clue of memory. His eyes fell upon the post for the lights that directed the traffic where to go. A small button was on the post for pedestrians to press and change the traffic lights so they could get across. Keith remembered how he was too small to reach the button by himself, so his mother would pick him up a little so he could reach and press it. Now, Keith could reach the button with ease, and he pressed it. He remembered which sign meant it was safe to cross and crossed when it was his turn.

Keith crossed the street, going left from the corner he had stopped at and walked straight for a bit. As he walked, he noticed many lit up signs, and remembered how he loved to look up at their various colors and shapes. He followed memory after memory, letting the instinct of the memories guide him. He walked for a few more minutes, until he found he was at his destination. He walked in through the customer door, and instantly remembered the place.

It was a mechanic's shop for small cargo ships, and there was one alien who was always there. Mordon, a dark skinned, muscular alien, owned the place with little help. But he was one of the best mechanics in the city. Keith looked around the shop for him, and saw him behind the front desk, fixing some sort of small gadget, or perhaps fiddling with it would be more correct. Keith walked towards the desk but Mordon spoke before he did, "Shop's closing up soon. If you need a job done, come back tomorrow." He said, keeping his eyes on the gadget he had in his hands.

"I'm not looking for a job to be done." Keith said, and was about to say more, but Mordon froze rather quickly and looked up at him. Keith saw a look of brief disbelief. "Who are you? You look familiar." He said, a small accent in his voice. Keith opened his mouth to give his name but Mordon put up a hand saying, "Hold on, hold on," he overlooked Keith closely, then said, pointing a small screwdriver at him as if to pin point the name, "Gary."

"Uh, no," Keith said, "my name is-"

"Lewis." Mordon interrupted, still pointing the screwdriver at Keith. "No." Keith said, slightly annoyed. "Ludar." Mordon guessed, more certain this was right this time. "No." Keith said, his eyebrows lowering in more annoyance.

"Luffan! Ladane! Luffario!" Mordon got more excited and sure his quests were right as he said them, but Keith's answer made him frown. "No." Keith said this as he crossed his arms, noticeably annoyed and growing impatient. Mordon sat back in his chair, the gadget in his lap now, and the tips of his fingers touching in concentration and thought. Keith watched as Mordon looked him over for a few seconds, tapping his two pointing fingers together with a serious look on his face. Keith tapped his own pointing finger on his arm.

"Lance." Mordon said one final guess, pointing a finger at Keith, and that was it. Keith blerted out a groan, "Uhg! No! My name is Keith!" He said, unfolding his arms to clench his fists. "Keith?" Mordon asked, remembering now who stood before him. He leaned forward in his chair and leaned his muscular arms on the desk as he said, "Oh yeah, I remember you. You and your mother would always have trouble with your ship and I was the only mechanic around who she could afford to pay and was good what they did." Mordon said, a half smile on his face.

"You've sure grown, haven't you! I mean look at you! The last time I saw you you were about this tall." Mordon measured a hand above the desk top to about two feet or so. Keith gave a small smile at what the alien said. "You actually look a lot like her," Mordon said, "minus the stronger looking face and shorter hair. You got the same nose." Keith smiled a little more at this, resisting the urge to reach up and feel the shape of his nose.

"What was her name again? I knew it was always difficult for me to remember. Ellie? No. Ester? No that's not it either… Eli.. Eliz…." Mordon drifted off, trying to figure out what the name really was. Keith suddenly remembered with his own excitement the name of his mother. "Eliza!" He said. "Yes! That's it!" Mordon said with a small chuckle. "Fore shame on me for forgetting such a wonderful girl's name. Where is she?"

Keith looked at Mordon with a now more serious expression. "That's what I'm trying to find. Have you seen her recently?" He asked hopefully. "Sorry kiddo," Mordon said with a saddened expression, "I haven't seen your mother in years. She's disappeared as far as I know."

Keith's hopeful gaze died with those words and he sighed. A dead end.

"She isn't with you on Forelongs?" Mordon asked. "Forelongs?" Keith asked, and like a bullet being shot from the muzzle of a gun he was shot into a brief flashback. He was sitting in the co-pilot seat of the small pod his mother had. He remembered looking at the planet from his seat and hearing his mother say, "Alright, home sweet home."

Keith was flung back into reality with a slight start. He blinked, then smiled. "Forelongs! That's it! Thanks Mordon!" Keith said, running out the door in haste. Turns out this wasn't a dead end after all. Mordon watched him leave, quite confused, but the entrance of a customer soon drew his attention off the matter, though he still kept Keith in the back of his thoughts.

Keith ran to his ship, which was parked on the edge of the city. Just as he turned around the corner and got to where he had parked it in a secluded spot, he stopped abruptly. Someone, was standing by his pod. At first Keith wondered if it was Shiro, since he guessed Shiro would have found out about him leaving by now. But the figure wasn't Shiro, and what gave it away, was that the person had somehow unlocked the pod's door with a high tech hacker, and was now climbing inside.

"Hey!" Keith shouted and ran forward, about to draw his Mamora's dagger, but a sudden strong arm came around from nowhere and knocked him in his chest. Winded, Keith was hit to the ground, a large alien standing over him in the shadows. His no doubt partner, who was much skinnier and shorter spoke a word of haste to his partner, and the brute of an alien went to the now unlocked pod and climbed inside. Keith tried to get up as quickly as he could but one of his leg braces got jammed up because of his fall, and it kept him from pursuing the thieves and getting his pod back.

Keith watched helplessly as the thieves flew away in his pod, and Keith groaned in frustration. "Great." He said aloud, managing to unnamed his leg brace by moving his leg slowly. He hoped Mordon had an extra ship to spare.

Shiro looked at the world of Corsant. He was here. All he needed to do now was locate Keith's pod, which he could have done back at the castle, but Shiro knew Keith wasn't going to return just by a scolding or by orders, no matter who was giving them. Shiro soon found though, that he wouldn't have to track Keith at all, because he caught a glimpse of his familiar pod leaving the planet. Shiro perused his friend as he left the planet, sending out a communication signal. "Keith!" Shiro said in his most strongest and commanding tone.

"Who's that?!" The skinny alien flying the pod asked, hearing the voice coming from the pod's speakers. His partner looked behind through the window and said nervously, "Uh, I think it's one of those pilots from that huge robot that transforms." The other alien, who sounded a little more intelligent than his partner said, "Voltron?! What would they want with us?!"

"Maybe they know we did something bad."

"Oh please. No one can be everywhere at once and no one can know what we did except for that guy who saw us do it."

"But what if he is a friend of Voltron and called his friends to help get his ship back?"

"Shut up!"

The alien flying the pod looked around the controls for some way to help them get away from the giant, black, mechanical lion now chasing them. "Keith! Stop!" The voice said again and both aliens jumped as the Black Paladin's face appeared on the small screen between them. At first he looked somewhat mad (but was really more commanding), but then he became confused. "Wait, who are you?" The Black Paladin asked.

"Uh," the skinny alien exclaimed, seeing what looked like a booster button on the pod's controls, "sorry, can't talk right now. Bye!" With that he pressed the booster button and both aliens were pushed back into their seats as the pod dashed forward in a blazing speed.

Shiro pushed his lion forward to follow. He needed the information both aliens might have about the one they took the pod from, and where they had found the pod. As he went into made pursuit, he didn't notice another ship leaving Corsant, and he even if he had, he wouldn't have recognized it, but the person inside the ship recognized him.

Keith watched as the Black Lion chased after the Altean pod with the two thrives inside. "Good luck trying to outrun him." Keith said as he turned the small cargo ship, which was in rather bad shape, and set a course for Forelongs.

Shiro chases the two aliens inside the pod for only a few minutes until the pod's engine had blown up from the dangerous use of the booster and crash landed on a deserted planet. Their pod was teetering on the edge of a cliff, and Shiro landed the Black Lion on the rocky terrain not far from the cliff. He came down through the ramp that came from the Lion's mouth, and the Black Lion resumed its normal position as soon as he was out. Shiro ran to the Altean pod, knowing it was becoming unstable, but before he got to it, it suddenly exploded with one massive shockwave. Shiro was thrown back onto the ground, a well positioned rock knocking him cold.

The ground under them began to crack in long trails, starting where the pod had once been, and crawling to where the Black Lion and an unconscious Shiro were. They had landed on a huge overhanging cliff it seemed, and the blast of the pod and the Black Lion's weight were causing it to crumble. The Black Lion sensed that it's paladin was in danger, and scooped Shiro up in it's jaws just in time before the ground under both their feet gave way. With Shiro inside, the Black Lion flew away from the crumbling cliff to a far away cliff side, there it stayed inside a cave, sitting in its now activates forcefield. The Black Lion sat there motionlessly, awaiting it's paladin's reawakening.

 _*note to readers* thanks for reading!_

 _Also, I had a little oopsy with the head leader of the Blade of Mamora. His name is actually Kulavan, not Ulaz. Ulaz was the guy that helped Shiro get out of Gulran imprisonment. So yeah, I didn't find that out until after I had posted the last chapter. Oops XD Anyway, I hope you guys had a great thanksgiving and are ready for Christmas and snow! XD Thanks for all your support!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

A Stranger in the Forest

Keith stumbled out of the small, wrecked cargo ship Mordon had freely given him. Keith groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, which he had strained just a little during the crash down to Forelongs. "Well, when Mordon said that cargo ship was on its last minutes, he wasn't exaggerating." He said to himself. He had thought Mordon was, as he had said, exaggerating just a little when he had told Keith the cargo ship wasn't even worth a cent because of it's bad shape and didn't have long before becoming unfixable. Just as Keith had been descending into Forelongs' atmosphere, the ship completely went nuts and malfunction after malfunction were back to back. It was a wonder that he was still alive and barely harmed. Barely, because he had received a blow to the head during the crash, and he had strained his neck a little with that. It was a small blow to the head though, and what blood was drawn didn't last for long. Keith should have known that something like that would have happened, and too be honest he had known, but he rushed right in anyway, not really thinking it over much. Keith sighed. His own headstrong and reckless nature could someday be the end of him, as he had once in a while been told at the Garrisons, but going against your own nature is difficult to do. Keith had never been good at going against his nature or his instincts, because both were the essential tools he had ever had to survive on his own, both in his childhood and after his father and Shiro disappeared. Without those things, Keith would have never made it. He had learned to not trust anyone. He had pushed the people close to him away because he was afraid of them pushing him away. But with Voltron, his whole life had changed. Everyone, Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Hunk and even Lance and Coran; they had all become his family. But he pulled away from them, and went to the Blades. Keith sighed again, looking down at the leg braces Pidge had made. For some reason, they brought him some kind of comfort, even though they were just leg braces. They reminded him of his family, his team family that is.

Keith's leg braces were still functional, and they fulfilled their job well, even after what they had been through. Still as silent in their working as they were before all this happened, they enabled Keith to walk and jog. Full speed running was a little more difficult because the sensors that detected the muscular movement weren't as quick in reacting and Keith would have to be trying to run and fighting the slight pull of the braces. Thankfully, with all this activity, Keith's legs were getting slightly more stronger with every step.

Keith looked around at the planet's surface. While there was no grass, the ground was fairly soft because of the brown colored soil. Trees sprouted from its crust and their branches were high up on the trunks. The sun's light peeked through their leaves, and Keith breathed in deeply. The forest had the smell of any forest with trees and leaves and perhaps wild life. For the first time, it felt a little like Earth. Keith found it comforting to be out of the city and in the woods. He walked around. With no ship to get him back home, he would have to see if this planet had any kind of civilization. Luckily he had spent much time on his own in the wilder places on earth, so all this wasn't new.

Keith first figured out which way was north, and in doing so he would find where east, south and west would be. After a brief minute, he figured out that the North was to the left of his ship, and that's where Keith would head. He salvaged what he could from the ship, made a makeshift pack from his cloak, and stored what he could in their. Since he had left his pack of food and water and spare cloths inside the pod, the only clothes he had was what he wore, and the only food and water he had was whatever he could find that was edible and drinkable on this planet.

Keith slipped the makeshift pack over his shoulders and onto his back, then he headed off towards the north. He walked for many hours, passing tree after tree, looking for signs of life. He came to a steep hill and climbed it, hoping the view up top would help him see his surroundings better. Once he made it to the top, he found himself standing on a cliff's edge and overlooking a vast sea of green. Tall trees rose from all around below the cliff.

Keith breathed in the breeze, then looked up at the sky to see where the sun was at. It would be setting soon he guessed, and he would need a safe place to make a fire and sleep for the night. Keith decided to climb down the cliff and look for shelter down below, having seen no very good place where he was at. Using a large bundle of thick wires and cords from the ship, Keith weaved a strong rope, and rounding it once around a nearby tree, he descended the cliff. It wasn't the highest cliff he'd seen, but he was definitely slightly tired when his feet finally hit the ground at the bottom. He recovered his makeshift rope by pulling the rest down, and after putting it back in his pack, he began the search for a good spot for the night.

Keith found a small, flat clearing that was perfect for a campsite. First he gathered some wood for fire, then using parts from a parachute he'd found in the ship, he constructed a small teepee like hut. After he built a fire to keep himself warm for the night, he huddled inside his hut, and waited for darkness. Having seen no sign of wildlife, Keith hadn't gone out hunting, and after setting up camp he wouldn't have had enough time to do so.

Day ended, dusk came and went, and the night now ruled over the land. It was very quiet. Unlike earth, which always had some kind of night creature singing its song in the darkness, Forelongs had no animals singing in their chorus. Not even the sound of an insect could be heard. The only noise Keith heard, was the crackling of the fire, and the noises he made when he shifted or moved. Even the wind was silent. It was as if Keith's arrival had made the forest silent and wary. As if the forest could sense a stranger had stepped into its territory, and wasn't sure if he was trustworthy.

Keith didn't know wether to find the silents comforting and peaceful, or strange and eerie. Though he did feel a sense of remembrance with this forest, he felt as if he'd seen the trees before and heard the silence. It was a very odd feeling, to see something and recognize it, but not really remember what it was or what it meant. I annoyed Keith to his wits end. As Keith sat in his hut, he stared at his Mamora's dagger. He could see the longing in his own eyes as the dagger's blade reflected them. How close was he to the truth? When was he gonna find it? In the dreams of his sleep? Several feet ahead of him? For so long he had wanted the answers. What if the answer wasn't what he wanted it to be?

If he saw the truth coming would he run or let it come, no matter what it may appear to be? What would he find in the silent wood of this planet? A past? Another memory? Or would he find some sort of legacy? A legacy of a Gulran descent? What if his mother was not like the Mamora? What if she wanted the Gulran Empire to take control of everything? What if the dagger was just a mistake? What if...what if she didn't want him? What if the fact that her son was fighting on the other side of the war wouldn't cause her to pause. Wouldn't cause her to step away? What if she didn't care?

Keith shook his head, not wanting to think about it. His mother had to have loved him at some point, right? When she loved him, she couldn't have been fighting for Zarkon, could she? Why else would he have this dagger? Keith found that the more questions he asked the more confused and worried he became. The fear of being rejected hung over his head. All the worry, all the fear, all the doubt and all of the worst things that could happen ran through his mind, until they all escaped through a single, silent tear. A tear as single as he was in that forest. A tear as silent as the forest itself, yet in that tear, was held a lonely boy's scream for the truth.

Shiro wasn't quite sure what had happened. One moment he had been running towards the Altean pod, then the next, a bright flash of light, a blastwave, then darkness. But even now as he laid where he was, the darkness was slipping away to form a window into the memories of the past. He watched memory after memory play through his mind's eye like a movie clip, and they were all focused around the same thing.

Happy memories of Shiro's childhood played through his mind. All the years of him and his mother when they were together, before she had disappeared on her space mission. They were both very close. Neither had known any other family besides each other, and they believed all they needed was each other. As a young child, Shiro had always been very playful, much like his mother. In any day of the season, winter, spring, summer or fall, they would go to all kinds of places. There wasn't a hole lot to do at home, so Shiro and his mother would often explore town and go to their favorite spots like the park. The park was Shiro's favorite place out of all his favorite places. He loved the little bridges going over the small creeks, the paths leading through the trees, and he also loved running through the open areas and playing hide and seek. His mother worked two jobs, but still had just enough time for Shiro.

Shiro and her would always play games wherever they were at. In the park, they'd play tag or hide and seek as if they were the same age. At home, they'd play all kinds of made up on the spot games that made any piece of work fun. Shiro's mother was his best friend, and she always told him he was her's. She loved to call him Little Tadash, and he sometimes called her Space Mom, because of her main job at the Galaxy Garrisons. Shiro's mother could make a game out of anything. She was funny, happy and to Shiro, the coolest mom every. When he called her name she would always answer. Wherever he stood in the world she was always holding his hand. He knew nothing in the world ever separate them: he never felt alone. There was only one woman in the world he loved, and that was her. She always would say, someday she'd have to let go. No matter what, Shiro always knew that she loved him. He knew she'd always be there for him...but then...she disappeared…. Suddenly, she was gone.

Forever out of his reach. Forever he would call her name, and there'd be no reply. Forever he would stand alone in the world. He found, the space between them was to much. He found that they were separated, and he felt alone. Even when she had been gone before, this didn't feel the same. She'd always said, that someday she'd have to let go. To let him spread his wings and fly on his own. Shiro had always said, that he would never leave her, but he never thought, that she would leave him. At first, Shiro had refused to except it. Except that his mother was missing and there was a possibility that she'd never return, and when everyone thought she was dead, he refused to believe that too. For so long he had tried to get as much information as possible to find her, but every string led to a dead end. After painful years of searching, when Shiro's adulthood was right around the corner, he forced himself to except that the answer wasn't a mystery. It wasn't just lost in space. The answer was right there…. His mother was dead…. Nothing would bring her back…. It was so hard for Shiro to stop searching. To not investigate every knew idea or theory, but he found that the less he thought of his mother, the less he asked the question of whether she was alive or not, the less painful his life became. But every time he walked past their favorite restaurant, their park, their little corner of the world, he saw her and heard her voice. It was agonizing, losing the only one he loved in his life. To hear her voice, and see her shadow and reflection, but when he turned around...she wasn't there. Part of Shiro had wanted to move out of that town where he grew up, but he always felt he wasn't ready to leave _all_ of it behind.

The happy and joyous memories that had played with such color in Shiro's mind's eye, now grew cold and turned to memories of sadness, and loneliness, and terrible pain. Nights spent without his mother's stories and hugs and bedtime kiss. He would always try to read himself the stories she used to read, but it wasn't same. Still he could never sleep. For some many hours he would stare up at the ceiling, wondering, _where was she?_ Some nights the grief would overwhelm him and cause him to cry himself to sleep.

Shiro felt as if he was in a dream, one in which he desperately wanted to wake from. He recalled every sad, lonely scene as it played out. He knew which ones were going next and didn't want to see them. He didn't want those emotions to come back. Not after he had just started to forget them. With a great struggle, Shiro forced his eyes to open, and finally he was awake. With a groan, Shiro sat up.

Why was he always in some way tormented by the past? He felt the Black Lion push in on his thoughts, as if wanting to know and comfort him, but he didn't need, or necessarily want, comfort. He made himself focus on something other than his past, blocking the Black Lion from that part of his life and brought back the matter at hand. How was he going to find Keith? He was probably back on Corsant, and with any luck Shiro would somehow find him. Shiro sighed, it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but somehow, he knew he'd find Keith. Somehow, someway, they always found each other. Shiro stood up and came to his seat, seeing that the Black Lion's force field has deactivated. The Black Lion was still, and even as Shiro sat down and tried to move it, it remained still.

Shiro pressed a few buttons and tried to get it to move again, but the Lion remained still, like it had done when Shiro had tried to rebond with it. Shiro was struck with confusion. The lights were on, and there was no sign of any problem. "What's wrong?" Shiro asked aloud. The Black Lion didn't answer in any way; it reminded silent and still. He felt the lion then try to gently push in on the topic of his mother. Shiro quickly blocked that part out again. "Look, we can't do this at the moment. I have to find Keith." Shiro said. At this, the Black Lion lifted it's head up quite sharply with a small roar. Shiro was actually thrown backward out of his seat and landed on his back on the floor.

He sat up. "Hey!" He said, annoyed, and what happened next made him quite upset. The Black Lion stood up out of it's sit, lowered its head while opening its mouth. The floor under Shiro gave way and he found himself rolling out of the Lion's mouth by the ramp and onto the ground. Before Shiro could get back inside, the Black Lion brought its head up, sat back down and activated the force field and locked him out. Shiro stared at the Lion in confusion and frustration as he sat on the ground. Was the Black Lion angry at him? What had he done?

Shiro got up and came to the force field, placed his hand on it and tried to connect with the Black Lion, but he felt it block him out. "What are you doing? It's me." Shiro said. He sighed in frustration when nothing happened. Suddenly, Shiro heard a hiss come from behind the Black Lion and inside the cave. He walked around the front and to the side of the force field to get a look. He saw two large, yellow eyes looking at him from deep inside the cave. There was a hissing growl, and something began coming towards Shiro. Shiro activated his Gulran hand, ready to fight if necessary as he asked the Black Lion, "Why are you locking me out?!"

Before Shiro knew it, a large catlike creature leaped from out of the darkness towards him. It had grayish fur, and wasn't all that cute for a catlike animal, because it's eyes were like that of a snake's, and they blinked from the sides, not top and bottom. It had no ears, but large horns that were in their place. Patches if it's fur were missing, old scars and scalded skin taking its place. With a short run, the creature jumped onto Shiro and caught him in it's clawed paws. The two tumbled once before the creature pinned Shiro to the ground. It snarled, peeling back its lips and Shiro saw a row of sharp teeth. Shiro grunted as one of its claws slowly began to puncture his chest. The creature snapped at him, hissing like a snake, and Shiro barely managed to keep its razor sharp fangs from getting to his face by holding it by the throat with his Gulran hand, but that wasn't going to work forever.

Shiro used his Gulran hand to burn the creature's neck, and the poedent smell of burning hair filled his nose. Smoke streamed from the creature's neck and where Shiro's hand was, and with a howl, the creature retreated, the fur of its neck singed. The creature snarled, then whirled around. It was at this moment, that Shiro saw the creature's tail. Long and quite thick with a hard mass of bone at the tip, made to bash and smash. Shiro took a few steps back to avoid being hit. The creature whirled its tail around three times, having to turn all the way around to do it but gaining more momentum each time. The first was a miss, the second a small hit that Shiro blocked but was thrown off balance, then the third knocked Shiro in his left rib cage and back.

Shiro felt all the air in his lungs jet out through his breathless cry. When Shiro hit the ground hard on his right side, he was winded and clutching his left side bitterly. He felt a terrible pain in his ribs and guessed that the blow had cracked or maybe even broken some of them. He struggled to get up, but he didn't get far. The creature's large paw pressed down on his chest as it turned him over onto his back, pinning him again.

Shiro let out a cry as the pressure on his ribs was increased. He shut his eyes tight in response to the pain, clutching the creature's paw and trying to pull If off and get free. He looked to the Black Lion for help, but it stood still and looked on. Had it rejected him? What had he done to suddenly make the Lion no longer trust him. Shiro's breath was being pushed from his lungs, and he stared into the creature's yellow eyes.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, like some kind of bullet being fired from the barrel of a gun, and some kind of red laser fire hit the creature in its left side. The creature stumbled away with a howl, and Shiro gasped for air. The creature gave an outraged roar as it turned to face its new attacker. Another red laser fire hit it, this time in the front of its shoulder. The creature howled again, retreating with a limp in its left, front leg.

Shiro coughed, then turned his head over to look to his right to see who had shot the creature. The sun had started to set, and its rays just about blinded Shiro's eyes. Had dusk really come so quickly? Shiro squinted through the sun and made out a figure. The figure was neither very tall nor very short, and it was slim. The figure walked closer, on two legs, and as it did Shiro could see it had two arms. At first glance, it would have looked like a human, but because there might be a good couple of aliens who look like humans, Shiro decided not to jump right to conclusion. The figure held a smoking gun in it's right hand, and came to Shiro's side, kneeling next to him.

Shiro now saw that this person wore a helmet with a black visor. After a brief minute of looking at Shiro's face intensely, as if waiting, Shiro was about to say something when the figure then put his gun its its holder on his right thigh and reached up to his helmet with the same hand and pressed some kind of button on the side. Shiro heard the faint sound of some kind of scanner, and after a second, the figure spoke in a voice whose true sounding was cloaked by the helmet. "You've fractured two ribs."

The figure's voice was rather deep and had a mechanical twist in it. "If you want I can help you, but on one condition." The person said. Shiro looked at him in suspicion. "Why would you help me?" Shiro asked. "For the same reason I shot that Lorope and for what my condition is," the person said, "you take me with you when you get off this rock." Shiro sighed, "I probably won't be leaving anytime soon, my Lion has locked me out. I can't get back in. I'm the black Paladin of-" before Shiro could finish, another roar from the creature that had attacked him echoed from deeper within the cave, and with it came many more.

Both Shiro and the person looked in their direction. "They're regrouping," the person said, "we have to move before the sun is completely gone. Can you regain control of your ship?"

"Maybe, but-" as soon as he heard the first word, the alien or whatever it was, was helping Shiro to his feet. Shiro managed to stand, and the alien put his right arm up around his neck and was helping him to the edge of the cliff. The alien reached to his belt and took out a small device no larger than a car key. It was rounded and had only one button, which the alien pressed, then looked over the edge of the cliff and downward. Shiro followed his look, then saw that at the bottom of the cliff, something was moving, climbing up the side of the cliff quickly and as if floating.

Shiro squinted to see the thing better, but soon it had reached the top of the cliff, sped past them and turned around to hover just inches away. It was some kind of speeder, hovering over the ground with a gentle hum. It had skid around so it faced the cliff now, and the alien walked towards it with Shiro, saying, "Hop on." Shiro got in the back part of the seat, and the alien sat in front of him. Shiro saw by looking over the alien's shoulder that the controls were very similar to a bike. The alien backed the speeder away from the edge of the cliff, until it was past were the Black Lion sat and was just about clothed in the darkness of the cave. Then, just as Shiro could hear the creature's from inside the cave getting closer, the alien sped the speeder in full hast towards the cliff's edge.

The alien didn't slow the speeder, so when they sped right of the edge of the cliff, they were several feet from the edge before gravity began taking over. Soon they were falling towards the ground below. Shiro could feel his stomach seemingly lag behind as they fell. A few feet before they would have hit the ground and crashed, the alien increased the speeder's gravitational force on the ground, making it so that the speeder would rise and hover higher if they had been traveling on level ground. While they were falling though, this softened the speeder's landing on the level ground and kept the speeder from crashing into the ground.

Shiro winced as his body's weight kept wanting to go down, the weight pressing on his injured ribs. He was impressed though by the tactic this alien used, and knew from it that this was an experienced pilot. They sped away from the cliff, and as the sun set in front of them, Shiro looked back and could see his lion sitting perfectly still. How long would the Black Lion keep Shiro locked out. Shiro sighed. He was stuck here until he figured out what was wrong, and he would be stuck with an alien he didn't even know.

After many minutes of traveling over rough terrain, they finally came to a huge mountain side. In the side of this mountain side, down near the ground, the mountain looked like it had cracked and split open a little. It was only large enough so a person the size of a human could pass through. A makeshift door was built into the crack, with wood blocking the other side from view above it. The alien parked the speeder a few feet away from that door, right next to the mountain's side and they dismounted. The alien covered the speeder with a large tarp that reflected the rocky surface of the mountain and ground. After that, they went inside. As he went through the door, Shiro found that this was not a deep crack, but a cave. In the cave's center was a round fire pit. Above the fire pit was a hole in the roof that allowed the smoke to escape. To the left of the fire pit looked to be where food was kept or prepared. To the right and on the back wall of the cave was a small sleeping mat and pillow and blanket. To the right, near the wall, was a large storage bin.

There wasn't much, and not what Shiro expected inside a small cave. As the alien shut the door behind Shiro, who was holding his side, the cave became very dark. As Shiro's eyes adjusted, the alien led him to a spot near the fire pit and set him down. Shiro saw there was a second mat there by the fire pit and was grateful for the softer surface. The alien had him lay down on his back, then got to work on making a fire. In a matter of seconds, a fire was started and being fed. After the fire was stable and lit the hole cave, the alien now tended to Shiro's injuries. The puncture wound in Shiro's chest wasn't large, but would get infected if not treated. His ribs would need more care than the puncture wound. The alien kept his helmet on, and Shiro wondered why.

The alien got some kind of odd smelling blue fluid which looked as if it was some kind of mashed up substance. The alien saw Shiro's cautious look and assured him by saying, "It's a healing plant on this planet and hard to come by, but it does it's job quickly and well. But it needs to touch the wounded area or wound to work." Shiro understood what this meant and sat up. With a small and painful struggle, he took of the Paladin armor on his upper body, including the arm armor and the dark gray shirt. It might have been awkward, but the thought of the alien being a doctor who needed to get to the wound made it feel a little less awkward for Shiro. Shiro laid still while the alien applied the medicin. "So," He said, the silent of the cave making questions come to mind, "how long have you been here?"

"A very long time. Years most likely." The alien replied. "Most likely?" Shiro asked. "My memory is rather, scrambled. I can't really remember how I got here or how long exactly I've been here. I remember some things from my past, but it's all still very scrambled and faded. All I know it that I have to get back."

"Back where?"

"A question I myself have asked more times than countable." The alien's voice now sounded a little more like that of a female, and as Shiro examined the alien a little more he found that it was in fact a female dew to the female characteristics he was familiar with.

"What's your name?" Shiro asked as the alien finished up with dressing of his wound. The alien had a small full pause, as if taking a minute to recall her name before she said, "Eliza. And your the Black Paladin, right?"

"Yeah. The Black Paladin of Voltron." Shiro responded. The alien looked at him for a moment, then shrugged, "Cool." She said, having no sign in her voice that showed she knew what Voltron was. Finishing up the bandaging, she stood up and walked away to put the medicine away. Shiro was silent for a minute in thought. How odd it suddenly was that this alien shared his mother's name.

 _*note to readers*_ _Hello! Sorry posting this chapter took so long, i wasn't meaning to take so long writing it. I've been working hard on several other non fan fiction stories lately and have been busy. I try my best to catch as many errors as I can but please try to excuse any I miss. My thanks to all of you guys following this story and stay tuned for more. feel free to tell me what you think! Flic out! XD_


	7. Chapter seven

Chapter Seven

Tragedies of the Past

Lead to Treasures of the Future

The night was long, but sleep had managed to come and soon Keith's eyes were blinking open to a crisp morning air. Unfortunately a heavy fog had settled around the camp dew to an unexpected but not unprepared rainfall from the night before. Keith had been safe and dry under his well constructed hutt, but he was rather cold because he had not made some kind of roof to protect his fire against the rain. He had wrapped himself in a cocoon of warmth with his cloak, but was hesitant to move despite his uncomfort for fear of letting any warmth slip out. 

Keith knew he'd have to get up and get moving eventually, so with a burst of movement he sat up and instantly the cold air rushed to greet him. Keith shuddered from the cold and regretted the hasty move, wondering if it might have been better to easy himself into the cold air rather throwing himself into it. Either way, he would still be cold. The growling of his stomach reminded him he had gotten nothing to eat the night before and was hungry for food. Keith gathered up his cloak into a ball and made sure it was safe and dry in a secure spot in his hutt. Then, standing up, he began to move out of his hutt. 

His shoulder though unintentionally bumped a post holding the hutt up and the sudden bump caused all the water trapped up on the roof to drizzle down in at least a small cup's worth. Much of it doused Keith's head and he froze as the cold water ran down his back and dampened his shoulders. 

"Really?" He said in irritation. Keith sighed as he felt a wave of frustration coming on. He knew nothing about this planet, so he didn't know what was good to eat or where he could find civilization. He didn't really know what he was looking for, and he didn't expect it to find him. He didn't even have a way to get off this planet! Keith sat down to clear his head for a moment. 

'Patience, yields, focus.'

He told himself, closing his eyes and feeling his mind begin to clear as he breathed in and out. The only thing he could really do was keep heading north and hope to find something that would help him. He would have to take each step at a time, but always be looking ahead. Keith opened his eyes, stood up, and turned to start pulling up camp when suddenly–he jumped to find a small being standing not far away from him. It was very small, no taller than two feet. It had gray skin with wrinkles marking great age and a small and rather round head. 

With a sharp, square chin, small nose, slightly hollowed cheeks, white hair tied back in a bun, and two eyes that were squinted so tight that they mine as well been closed, the little creature didn't seem to be much of a threat; though it still made Keith jump with a small shout and draw his blade. The little creature, dressed in an old robe made with many once bright but now dulled colors, held a small cane in its right hand. It's hands only had three fingers, and it's bare feet had only three toes. With a round body and small arms under drooping sleeves, the creature looked at Keith with a seemingly delighted smile. 

"Good-morning." It said in an older female voice. Keith blinked.

"Uh, good-morning." He said, unsure of if the creature was friend or foe. The alien's smile widened a little. 

"Such lovely manners you have young man." She complimented as she waddled over to where Keith's campfire had once burned. Keith watched her suspiciously, lowering his dagger but not yet putting it away. The old alien looked at his fireplace and poked it with her cane. 

"An unexpected rainfall came last night," the alien said, and she examined Keith's hutt, "but luckily both of us were indoors. Sort of speak. I too live in a hutt, though it's much more bigger than yours is."

"I don't live here." Keith said, letting his guard down. He decided this little alien wasn't a threat by sheathing his blade. The old lady looked at him suddenly with one, rather crazy looking eye. 

"But you did once, long ago." she said mysteriously. 

Keith blinked again, this time in confusion. The old alien looked at him with one eye for a second after she spoke, her face and expression looking different. As if she knew something that Keith didn't and was testing him to see if he'd figure it out. Keith saw all this and wondered who she was and if she could help him. He was just about to ask but suddenly the old lady brightened, that rather crazy, mysterious look gone in a flash as she then said rather quickly, 

"Well, good day."

With that, she turned around and walked at a surprisingly quick pace away. If the ground had been dry, Keith might have expected a puff of dust come from her as she sped away. Keith made a sudden and frantic move to follow her, but stopped and looked back at his camp. He couldn't pack it all up and still follow her, she would be out of sight within the trees and the patting of her bare feet on the ground wasn't loud enough for him to follow by ear. She was so light it seemed that she barely made any tracks he quickly noticed, and so Keith hesitantly raced after her. 

"Hey! Wait!" He shouted, trying to catch up to the old alien. He ran for several minutes, the little old lady just barely visible through the trees. She seemed to weave between them, as if both trying to be out of sight and leading him somewhere. The thought that she could be leading him to some kind of danger crept into Keith's mind, but he just felt like he had no other choice. Finally, Keith stumbled upon a hutt made of old wood and grass in a small clearing. 

Keith saw the little alien sitting in a rocking chair in front of the hut, rocking back and forth casually, as if she had been waiting for some time. When she saw him come into view, she smiled.

"At last you arrive at my doorstep. I've been waiting for you for a long time." she said. 

Keith opened his mouth to say something, but with a pause, he ended up saying something other than what he had originally planned. 

"You've–been expecting me?" He asked, coming closer. 

"Indeed I have." The old alien said, her cane in her lap as she rocked still. "Though–I hadn't dared to hope you would arrive so soon. Your just barely on the doorstep of adulthood, yet I imagined you being far older before you returned." 

"Your saying," Keith asked, wonder filling his mind, "I've been here before?" The alien looked deep into his eyes, and Keith could barely tell that she was squinting. 

"I'm surprised you do not remember. Yet again, you were so very young when it all happened." She said, a certain sorrow detectable in her voice. After she said these things, Keith heard distance voices in his mind, as if coming on que to a unheard note. Like the ghosts of a forgotten past. He blinked, and was distracted by the voices for a moment until they faded away like mist.

The alien noticed this, as if guessing what it was. She then, with some effort, slowly stood up from her chair.

"Come with me. Perhaps seeing where it all happened will help you remember." She said. She then turned and walked away, and Keith followed. 

"What's your name?" Keith asked as he came to walked beside her. 

"Malla." The little alien replied as she waddled on. Keith recognized the name a little but couldn't place from where he heard it. He assumed it was another lost memory he had. 

Malla led Keith past her hutt, through a few trees and into a large clearing. Keith looked out at the clearing and saw ruins of some kinds of small buildings. They were spread out a little but not so much that the space between them was too much. They were all somewhat lined up, as if they had once been houses and a streets had divided them. Some were bigger ruins while others were smaller. They were all mostly made of wood and stone, but much of the wood was black, as if it had been on fire and the stones looked as if they had experienced intense heat. Keith walked closer to a small ruin which had probably once been a very small, one room house. 

He ran his finger tips over the black wood and discovered the wood had once been burnt. 

"What–what is this place?" Keith asked, looking around at the ruined structures. 

"This was once a town of refugees who were hiding from the Gulran Empire. They thrived for many years here, growing from a small camp, to village, and from village, to small town." Malla said, staying where she was and looking at the ruins with a sorrowful gaze. It was after hearing these words that Keith began to remember. He recognized the placement of the buildings, and he slowly began to slip into the past as it began to unfold in his mind's eye. Malla could tell he was beginning to recall, so stayed silent and looked on. 

  
  


Keith began walking through the town. The more he walked and looked around, the more he saw. The sun was shining bright in the sky. The lush colors of warm weather were all around. Farmers sold their goods and all kinds of friendly merchants were about their work in crafting, keeping or selling their goods. Young alien children ran about in a game of tag, laughing and smiling. Colorful things that resembled kyts danced in the sky, children holding the string and their parents helping them keep it in the air. It wasn't as silent as the forest, but it wasn't roaring loud either. It was a calm, peaceful noise in the town. Like a peaceful noise you find in the countryside. Alien farm animals talked back and forth to one another as did the people. 

  
  


Keith walked to a certain house which he recognized. The house had a small porch which was shaded by a roof. It wasn't in good shape, but Keith's mind's eye imagined it being the opposite. With the walls covered with some kind of cream colored wallpaper, and the stone structure easily seen, the brown wood porch looked quite nice with the house. Keith remembered standing on the porch as a young boy, watching the kids in the street play. He remembered one day in particular. He was playing with the children his age in the street in a game of tag, when suddenly—

  
  


—the bright sun went dark and disappeared as the sky turned to night. Smoke and ash polluted the air, sparks from fires flowing in the wind. Keith remembered hearing screams and the cracking of fire as it burned. He remembered seeing the houses and buildings on fire, some of them already beginning to collapse. Keith remembered standing in the middle of the street as people ran past him to escape some kind of other danger than the fire. As Keith stood in the midst of a wave of fleeing people, he suddenly heard the loud bang of a blaster and an alien fell dead at his side. Keith remembered seeing the alien's eyes were still open, and seeing the smoking round hole left by a laser bullet in its back. 

Someone in the crowd of fleeing people accidently knocked Keith to the ground in a panic. Keith heard more blaster shots and watched as more aliens fell dead around him. Soon, the crowd of fleeing people became a crowd of Gulran senteries in pursuit. Keith was just small enough to not be noticed as he lay on the ground, but he covered his face with his arms and clenched up into a small ball because he was afraid of being hit in the face or trampled. Soon the senteries passed and Keith was soon standing in the midst of the dead aliens laying around him. Keith suddenly saw a single sentry who had fallen slightly behind and was hurrying to catch up to its group. It saw Keith from a few yards away and stopped to aim its blaster at him. 

Keith remembered how he couldn't move. It was as if his body had been frozen with fear. He remembered hearing the weapon fire and seeing the streaming bolt flying for him. Suddenly, someone scooped him up as they dashed out of the bolt's way, rolling to safety in between two buildings who had yet to be burnt. 

"Don't worry buddy, I got you." Keith remembered hearing his rescuer say, and he recognized the voice as the voice of his father. Keith remembered how tightly he held onto his father as he sheltered him in his arms. He remembered looking down and seeing his father holding a knife in his hand. Keith suddenly remembered what kind of knife it was. A blade of Mamora. As Keith looked at his own reflection in the dagger, he suddenly saw something move in the corner of the reflection. When he looked behind to see what it was, he gasped to see a Gulran sentry aim its blaster at Keith and his father. Keith remembered how he had just begun to warn his father when the shot was fired. The bolt flew towards his father, who seemed to be unaware of the danger, and then-

  
  


Keith knocked himself out of the memory, his instincts telling him there was danger and compelling him to draw his dagger from its sheath. He stood in the abandoned street of the town, dagger drawn. Keith shook his head. He could feel the memory slipping away suddenly, as if this was his only chance to remember before it was lost forever. But although Keith wanted the truth, he was also afraid of it. Afraid of what it could be. Afraid that he would be left alone. He was confused. Confused at why his father, who was human, had a Mamora's blade. Keith found himself not knowing what to do. His mind felt clouded. Every time he felt the memory begin to playback, he stopped it, and it would begin to trail away before he was pulling it back. He didn't know why he was hesitating. Perhaps it was because he felt unprepared for what the truth might be. As Keith kept drawing in and pushing away the memory, he grew frustrated with his own fear and clouded mind. 

He grunted as he shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to push away the fear. No matter what he did though, the fear and all the emotions still clouded his mind. 

"Stop fighting," Malla said gently, seeing Keith's struggle, "let it flow." 

Her words caused Keith to remember something very, very important which had always helped him with times like these. 

'Patience—yields—focus—'

With those three words spoken in Keith's mind, Keith felt everything clouding his mind begin to clear: like a cool breeze blowing away a dense fog. Keith breathed in deeply, and with the calm breath and the calming words, he felt ready for whatever truth was illuminated. Keeping his eyes closed, he used his Mamora's blade to bring back the memory. Feeling the memory coming closer, he raised the blade until it was level to his head, and right as that happened–

  
  


–the bolt flying for Keith's father hit the Mamora's blade, bouncing off as his father deflected it. Keith's father rushed towards the Gulran sentry and with just one strike in the head the sentry fell to the ground with a thud. Keith remembered holding onto his father still as his father began to flee the burning town. His father ran through the streets, avoiding conflict unless unavoidable. Soon, Gulran senteries were close behind in chase, firing their blasters but narrowly missing. 

Keith's father carried him for what seemed like seconds as the time was blurred to Keith. They ran through the streets, laser fire constantly blazing past them and just barely being avoided. They turned a corner and there was another squad of sentries coming their way. Keith's father didn't stop. While keeping Keith tight in one arm, he broke through the sentries and continued running. In the process, one managed to get a good shot and took it. Keith remembered how his father stumbled a little as a laser bolt hit through his lower side through his back, burning right through. The hot bolt burnt through and sealed the wound, keeping it from bleeding, but the pain was unimaginable. His father kept running despite the pain, but Keith knew he was just barely able to keep his pace. His father ran for a bit longer, turning around and corner and then he stopped. 

"Logan," a familiar voice said, "where's Eliza? Did she make it out?"

"I…." Keith's father was hesitant in his answer, "...I hope so. I couldn't find her. I need to get to the pods, how many are left?"

"Just a few." the person responded, and Keith looked at him to see who exactly it was. Another Blade warrior, his helmet on like his father.

"Then let's go." Keith's father began to move, but the person stopped him.

"Logan, the mission here isn't finished." The warrior said. There was a long pause. Keith's father looked down at Keith for a minute before he looked back up at the Blade warrior and spoke.

"No, it isn't. But I have one that's far more important." With that, Keith's father, Logan, broke into a run, going past the warrior while still holding his son tightly with one arm. 

The Blade warrior, with a pause, turned and followed. 

"Logan-"

"This isn't a discussion, I'm getting my son out or here."

"They have already infiltrated the first barrier!"

"Then get back there and do everything you can to keep them back! I'll join you after I get my son out of here!"

"Logan-"

"Just shut up and trust me! I'll be there!" 

The Blade warrior soon broke away from Logan and disappeared as he ran down a seperate street. Logan ran for a while until he came to a large, but not very tall building. It was a landing bay for spacecraft, and towns people were rushing through the huge doors to get on large escape pods. Logan hurried through the doors, not finding it hard to rush through the crowd since there was barely a crowd at all. Many of the townspeople had either been killed or were already loaded onto pods and had escaped. Logan rushed to the last pod. 

"Branch!" Logan called to a specific alien. That alien saw him and waved.

"Logan, over here!" the alien said. Logan rushed to the alien.

"Branch, I need you to keep an eye on Keith for me." Logan said urgently. Keith recognized the alien as a shape shifting species. The alien, Branch as he was called, looked at Logan as if he was slightly unsure as well as surprised. 

"Please Branch," Logan pleaded, "look after him while I'm gone." Branch looked from Keith to Logan, then he nodded.

"Okay, I'll look after him."

"Promise me."

"...I promise." Branch answered. Logan nodded to Branch in gratitude. 

"Thank you." he said.

Logan then set Keith down on the ground, moving a little slow because of his side wound. 

"Alright now kiddo," Logan said, kneeling down to his son and looking him in the eye, "you remember Branch, don't you?" Keith nodded.

"Good. He's gonna be watching over you, so you need to listen and obey every word he says as if he were me, you hear?" 

"But I don't want you to go." Keith said, holding onto his father's hand. Logan paused, those words making it all the more harder to leave.

"Neither do I Keith," Logan said, and he let his helmet fade away so his son could look into his dark blue eyes, "I know you're scared, but i need you to be brave now." Logan put a hand on his son's shoulder, holding Keith's hand in the other. 

"I won't be gone for long, just a little while. I'll come get you as soon as I can, I promise." Logan comforted.

"But how will you find me?" Keith asked. Logan looked like he wasn't sure to respond, and the pilot of the escape pod was impatient to take off and ushered for everyone to get on quickly. Logan then looked down at his dagger. Then reaching behind his back, he brought out another one just like it.

"Here, this is your mother's. Keep it with you, and as long as you do, I'll be ale to find you." Logan offered the dagger to Keith, the dagger still in its sheath, and Keith took it with care. Keith then looked up at his father, tears in his eyes, but then he nodded bravely. Logan gave a proud smile. 

"That's my boy." he said. Logan then gave his son a kiss and brought him close in a hug. Keith hugged his father tight.

"What if I never see you again?" Keith asked, his voice muffled against his father's chest.

"You will kiddo," Logan replied, "...you will."

Logan forced himself to let go of Keith. 

"Be good. I'll see you soon and…. I love you kiddo." Logan said as Branch ushered Keith into the escape pod. The doors closed before Keith could reply, so he moved to the window so he could look out. Keith saw his father watching as the pod lifted off the ground.

"Dad!" Keith shouted, trying to be heard through the glass.

"Dad! Dad I love you too!" Keith shouted, putting his hands on the glass to steady himself, the tears in his eyes blurring his sight. His father stood and watched the ship take off, and he didn't leave until the ship was out of his sight. And then the whole scene seemed to blurr and move like water.

  
  


Keith opened his eyes. They were still blurry, and he knew why. His body trembled with emotion, and Keith brushed away the tears in his eyes to see. He now stood in the same spacecraft bay, in the same spot his father had stood as the pod left. Keith thought about what his father said.

"I'll come get you as soon as I can." he had said, and Keith wondered what kind of mission would have held up his father so long except if….

Keith sighed. His father had probably died during that last mission. Keith found though that he still had more questions. What happened to his mother? Was she also dead? If his father died here, then who was the man who had raised him all his life on Earth? How did he get to Earth? Keith sighed again, sorrow filling him. If his mother and father were dead, that meant Keith had no other family. He was alone. Keith did feel alone at this thought, and he gazed at the place where the escape pod had once been so many years ago.

"So, you have finally found the truth of what happened here so long ago." Malla said as she walked to where Keith stood, stopping a few feet behind him. 

"I'm not sure if it's helped at all. It's only brought more questions." Keith said in despair. Malla was silent for a moment.

"Some questions were never meant to be answered dear boy. But perhaps this is the time to stop asking questions and simply answer one. What part did this time in your story play in your life?" Malla asked.

"What?" Keith asked, not understanding the question.

"Sometimes the past is difficult and full of pain, but what happens in the past affects your future, for good or worse." Malla tried to give Keith a hint of what she meant with these words, but he wasn't quite getting it yet. 

"Dear child, you've endured through much over the course of your young life. Where would you be if all of this had never taken place? You might have had more than what you have now, but in gaining more, one will always gain less. What happened in the past took place for a reason. There are things no one can change, the past being one of them. But notice, dear child, how the tragedies of the past, lead to the treasures of the future."

Something then dawned on Keith quite suddenly. 

'Where would I be if this hadn't happened?' he wondered. All the sudden, memories flashed back. Memories of his past, but these ones were not a mystery or ones he didn't remember until just now; these were memories of his other family. His team. He remembered how it all started. 

Hearing the news of Shiro disappearing on the Kerberos mission. When he was booted from the Garrisons, and afterward when he spent much of his time out in the desert and wild lands, searching. When he saw something in the sky one night and discovered it was an alien ship. Going down to the crash sight of the ship, breaking through Garrison security, rescuing Shiro and meeting three other teens in the Garrisons. Fleeing the scene, taking all of them with him on his speeder as they sped for home. Finding the Blue Lion and seeing Lance activate it. Leaving Earth and going out into space, barely escaping from an alien ship before going through a wormhole to a seemingly hole different univers: one which Keith hadn't even known existed. Meeting princess Allura and her trusted friend, Coran. Learning that patience yields focus. Finding the Red Lion of Voltron in a Gulran ship bay. Earning the Lion's loyalty and trust and bonding with it. Feeling the controls in his hands. Forming Voltron for the first time and over and over and over as they fought to save the universe. Keith had grown close to his fellow paladins and would gladly give his life for all of them in a heartbeat. 

Meeting Hunk, the leg of Voltron who always lifts the team up. Meeting Pidge, the inquisitive pilot of the green lion, who seemed to be able to solve any riddle with her top notch brain. Meeting Lance, a razzle-dazzler and lover of ladies, but a strong and caring friend who's always with you and ready to put himself and his wants last because he knows it's not all about him; the leg of Voltron as he will always hold you up when he can. Meeting Allura, the caring, peace seeking, skilled warrior and strong willed princess of Altea. Meeting Coran, the crazy uncle figure who has somewhat odd sayings but truly is a good and uplifting friend. Shiro, who Keith had known for years, the decisive head of Voltron and pilot of the Black Lion. The born leader whose men are always eager to follow. The man Keith knew he could never replace or even resemble. Keith's best friend and brother-like figure. The person who had inspired him to be more than the orphan he was. To be a pilot. To have patients to gain focus. To be the pilot of the Red Lion. To do what he felt was right. The way Shiro would always pull him into a secure and loving hug. The wisdom he gave which always made sense and got through to Keith. The way they all embraced Keith when he left the team. They way they all embraced him when he woke up from the healing pod. The new family he had found on this journey, was worth all the pain and loneliness of the past. He knew he would never forget them, regardless if they did or not.  

Keith looked down at his dagger, and it was then that he let go of the questions regarding his past and embraced the answer of the most important one.

"WIthout this tragedy, I would never have met my new family. I would have never gotten this far…. I don't have all the answers, but that's alright with me. I've answered the most important question of them all." Keith said aloud, now turning and looking at Malla. She nodded proudly, glad that Keith finally saw what was most important and what she had been trying to tell him. Keith looked back to his dagger thoughtfully.

"My father put family before the mission, and after he knew I was safe, he went back to finish the mission...even if he knew he might not ever come back...." Keith trailed off as he thought about the sacrifice his father made.

".........Wellll," Malla suddenly said, as if unsure of the fact. Keith looked back up at her in confusion and questioning. Malla gave a small chuckle at his expression. 

"Well what?" Keith asked. Malla chuckled again before she then turned back to a serious -more or less- face. 

"Come here for a minute child." she said, and Keith came closer. She ushered him closer and to kneel down. After Keith did so, she steadied herself by holding his arm as she lifted her cane to point at something.

"See that mountain?" she asked.

"Yeah." Keith responded as he looked at the single peak.

"There is one at the very top who knows of your father's real fate."

"Who is he?" 

"You will find out once you ask him. Now go. Alone, neither of you will ever leave this place, but together, you may find a way."

"Why haven't you gone to see him?"

"Do I look like a young alien capable of traveling long distances?"

"...I see your point."

"Indeed. Now enough questions. Be on your way!"

"But wait, what if I can't find him?"

"You will."

"What do I say to him?"

"Ask him about your father."

"How does he know about my father?"

Malla suddenly hit Keith -not terribly hard- on the head with her cane in inpatients.

"For someone who was just telling me about how he didn't need all the answers you sure do like to have them, don't you?" Malla said, partly teasing and partly serious.

"Listen. You must hear the words that I am saying and trust them. Go up to the mountain. Once you are at its foot, you will know how to get up and you will know where to find the one who knows about your father."

"...but what if- (WHACK!) Ah! Hey!"

"No more questions! Go! You waist the daylight! Up and at 'em! Skat! Roll out! Whatever you younglings say these days that means hurry! You must get up the mountain while there is still light!"

Malla ushered Keith urgently with her cane, not hitting him but making her point clear that he must go. Keith quickly stood up and after a last look at the old alien, who waved goodbye, he headed for the back doors of the hanger and on his way to the mountain.

"Don't worry about where to go or what to say! Just follow your instincts!" Malla said as Keith walked on. 

Follow your instincts. Now that was something Keith could definitely do.

*note to readers* hello readers, thank you for reading another chapter of this crazy story! chapter eight will hopefully be out sooner than later so stay tuned! XD Have a wonderful day and week! Flicout! 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Finding what has been lost

Shiro's eyes fluttered open. He looked up at the ceiling of the cave. The light of the fire danced upon its surface, and the noises it made cracked in his ears. Shiro sat up slowly, careful not to move his ribs too much until he found that he felt no pain when he moved.

"How do they feel?" Eliza asked, looking at Shiro from across the fire, her helmet still on.

"I don't feel any pain." Shiro replied.

"That's good. It means the medicine seeped through the skin and healed the bones like it's supposed to." Eliza said.

"Great. That means we can get a move on: if your ready." Shiro said.

"I am. I've dreamed of this moment without knowing it would ever come for years. Let's get to it."

Shiro felt sorry for the alien. She had stayed here on this planet for years, all on her own. He could tell that she had no love for this planet and was eager to leave it behind once and for all. Shiro stood up, stretching a little as he did.

"Will those creatures still be there when we get to my lion?" He asked.

"No, they never come out during the day." Eliza said, standing up and also stretching.

Eliza went to the door of her home and opened it, letting all the fresh air and sunlight in. Shiro blinked at the bright sunlight outside as Eliza came to the fire and put it out. Shiro walked outside through the door and breathed in the fresh air. The sun was still rising and there were still shadows of darkness across the land, but the sun shone surprisingly bright even as it was just starting to peak across the land.

"Ready Paladin?" Eliza now asked, coming outside from the cave with a small pack which she slung over her shoulder.

"Whenever you are." Shiro said, looking back at her.

He paused for a moment as Eliza began to walk to her speeder.

"Shiro." He finally said, and Eliza stopped for a moment and looked at him.

Shiro gave a small smile.

"My name is Shiro. I just thought that you would want to know my name instead of my title."

Eliza looked at him for a minute, and Shiro wondered if it was because of what he said.

"Shiro?" Eliza asked.

Shiro nodded.

"...that's...that's a nice name." She said with a nod, really meaning it.

Shiro shrugged.

"Thanks. I actually knew someone with your exact name once." Shiro said, suddenly drifting off a little in the past.

"Who?"

"...someone who's...no longer here."

Eliza paused for a moment.

"I'm very sorry to hear that." She said, her voice compassionate.

Shiro was silent for a moment. He then shook himself back into reality, pushing the past away.

"Well, we better get going." He said, switching the subject.

Eliza set her pack in the saddle bag of the speeder and got on. Shiro came and sat behind her as she started the speeder up. It protested with a stalled engine start, but after a good kick with the heel, Eliza got it humming like it was supposed to. Soon enough they were speeding back to the mountainside. Shiro couldn't see the Black Lion yet since he was so far away, but he thought he would have seen the purple glow of the forcefield. This worried him slightly. The trip seemed slightly longer this time, but perhaps that was because of the ever present urge to get out of this place. Shiro wondered how Keith was doing. How the team was doing. Shiro began to wonder what happened to Keith on Corsant, all the possibilities running through his head and soon making him anxious. Shiro sighed inwardly. Why couldn't Keith have just waited?! Why did he always rush off into the unknown alone? Shiro understood could understand why Keith rushed off, but it just seemed like a half thought out plan.

Shiro actually sighed this time. He needed to get things back on track. He needed to find Keith.

"Your not afraid of heights, are you?" Eliza asked, her voice breaking Shiro out of his thoughts.

"Uh, no. Why?" Shiro asked.

"We're gonna have to climb up the mountainside." Eliza said.

She pulled the speeder to a stop at the foot of the mountainside.

"It's not a terribly long climb, but a fall can be fatal. So please, don't fall." Eliza said, a humorous tone in her voice to brighten up the oncoming climb.

Shiro chuckled.

"I'm not planning on it." He said, looking up at the rock, already searching and seeing hand and feet holds.

The climb was indeed a little long. Shiro and Eliza climbed at a good pace, the same actually, and not right behind each other. They climbed parallel to one another so they would be free to go at their own pace. Shiro glanced over at Eliza to check how she was doing. She was doing incredible. She was a natural climber it seemed, and her flexibility helped her a great deal. She moved with careful placement of her hand and foot holds and because she was always looking ahead, she had a plan for which holds to grab next. She barely slowed her pace and was actually slowly gaining headway. The climb reminded Shiroof when he and Keith used to go climbing in the outdoors. Shiro missed those carefree days, but he quickly had to remind himself not to get distracted by his past, even though some of the memories were ones he wanted to replay.

Finally, Shiro and Eliza made it to the top. Shiro looked over the edge of the cliff, seeing how far they had climbed. Shiro then looked to his lion and was surprised to see the forcefield had deactivated. He wondered what was up with the lion. He could tell it felt his presents, but it didn't seem ready to let him in just yet. Shiro walked to his lion, looking up at it and waiting for some kind of movement, but the Black Lion remained still. Shiro sighed. If he didn't figure out what was wrong quick, there's no telling how long they would be stuck here.

Shiro suddenly noticed that Eliza had not followed him to his lion, so he looked behind to see what she was up to. Eliza stood at the edge of the cliff, her body turned to the side but she was looking out at the land beneath them, as if she had begun to follow but something stopped her.

"You okay?" Shiro asked.

Eliza was silent for a minute, looking out at the land still.

"It's odd," she now said aloud, "I never liked this place, nor did I ever want to spend the rest of my life here. I had wanted to leave this planet ever since I landed. Now here's my chance to leave it all behind forever, and I find myself holding onto it just a little. Its like it's a part of me, whether I want it to be or not, and nothing I do can get rid of the connection it has with me. Is that not weird or am I just crazy?"

Shiro found his eyes drifting to his Gulran arm. He himself often wished he could leave it and the memories with it behind, but it was apart of him now, whether he wanted it to be or not.

"Actually," Shiro said, those thoughts in mind as he looked at his Gulran prosthetic hand, "I know just what you mean."

Eliza looked back at him, her helmet hiding her expression. She then looked down slightly, almost like she was glad that she wasn't alone in feeling like this. Eliza then looked back out at the land, inhaling. Then, raising her hands to her helmet, she then lifted the helmet off her head, and Shiro suddenly was frozen like a block of ice as he saw the face underneath.

A soft skin tone, dark eyes like his own, and dark black hair which now fell free from the cage of the helmet to the near middle of her back. The alien was not an alien, but a human…..

"You...you said your name was Eliza?" Shiro suddenly asked, his voice quiet and unsure.

Eliza stood quiet for a moment, as if the name had caused her to wander off in thought.

"Yes," she finally responded, still looking out over the plains, "Eliza Shirogane."

She didn't hear Shiro give a small gasp behind her, neither did she see him slowly take off his own helmet. Eliza then gave a small chuckle.

"Its funny," Eliza said casually, "I just realized that your name is very similar to my–last name…." Eliza's words seemed to flow off into the wind as her gaze drifted off in both confusion and maybe even a daring hope.

"Shiro-gane…." she uttered, then slowly looked back at Shiro with identical, dark eyes.

Shiro's helmet dangled from Shiro's hand, as if he wasn't holding onto it with much strength. Eliza looked deep into his eyes, the same daring hope still in them. She took a small step towards Shiro, who stood as still as stone.

"C-could it it be?... After so many years?..." Eliza said in a quiet whisper, coming closer to Shiro with small, unsure steps.

"I thought...I thought I would have to find you but… I never dreamed that you would… somehow find me…." Eliza took another step forward, and Shiro just barely stepped back.

Eliza stopped, seeing the same daring hope in Shiro's eyes. It was like they both now knew who the other was, but was just too shocked to truly grasp it. Shiro stared at Eliza, tears filling his eyes so much that if he was to blink they'd come streaming down. Eliza stared at him for a minute, tears beginning to flood her own eyes.

"Tadashi?" She asked, a tear breaking free from her eye and falling like a drop of rain down her cheek.

Shiro continued to stare at Eliza until finally he blinked once, a single tear falling down his cheek from both eyes, and his helmet slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"... Mom…." Shiro uttered in a quiet voice.

Eliza's eyes widened in disbelief for a second, as she stood frozen in place. All Shiro wanted was to be in her embraced, but his entire body was stiff and couldn't move. It was as if he was afraid this was a dream. That his long lost mother wasn't really standing right in front of him. He was afraid to give in to her embrace only to see her fade away and be left alone, like all the other times he had seen her in his dreams. Eliza could see his fear of her not being real, a fear that reflected her own.

But seeing how Shiro, like herself, was afraid of this moment being only a dream, she suddenly knew that it wasn't. Eliza's fear was replaced it with pure joy as she ran to her son and threw her arms around his neck in a tender embrace. Shiro felt his mother's embrace, and then he knew that she wasn't a dream. She was real. Shiro wrapped his arms around her, feeling her press her face against his shoulder and neck in the sweetest and most joyous of hugs. He did the same.

"I can't believe you're really here…." Shiro said, his voice quiet and unsteady as the result of joyous tears.

"I can't believe you found me, after so long I thought I'd never see you again!" Eliza said, holding him tight.

She stepped away a little so she could see his face.

"And look at you," she said in disbelief, "your all grown up. My little boy has grown into a man. Where did the time fly off to?"

Shiro laughed as his mother placed a hand on his cheek, and he placed his own hand on top of it. As Shiro looked at her, he noticed a faded scar above her brow which he hadn't seen before. He gently touched it with concern, but his mother shrugged.

"A small scar from some time ago; though I don't know from what." She said.

"You don't remember?" Shiro asked.

Eliza shook her head gently, looking at Shiro as if she didn't really care. But pushing the matter aside, Eliza drew Shiro in close in another tight hug. He held her in his embrace, his fingertips nearly touching his elbows because she was so thin. Eliza paused for a minute, suddenly realizing the width of Shiro's shoulders and how tall he was. She was nearly on her toes in order to put her arms around his neck.

"Woah, you got buff." she joked, and Shiro laughed at her comment.

They backed away from each other for a minute to once again see the other's face, Shiro holding his mother's hands in his own. Eliza brushed her fingertips lovingly across and down Shiro's cheek as some mothers do.

"I've missed that smile and those eyes so much…." she said tenderly, rubbing a tear from her son's cheek with her thumb.

Shiro brushed away one of his mother's tears with his own finger. They stood like that for a minute, breathing in the change of the other's presence. Eliza brought Shiro close to her once more but this time she brought her forehead to his, like she always used to do when he was young.

Shiro closed his eyes. They stood like that for a while, eyes closed and once again in each other's embrace. Shiro felt all the sorrows of his past wash away. All the guilt of giving up the search, all the unanswered questions, they were all washed away by his mother's loving embrace. Hearing her voice, seeing her eyes and smile, feeling her arms around him once more was like her coming back from the dead. Shiro then made a promise to himself right then and there, that he would never lose her again. After so many years, both mother and son had finally found what they had lost.

A small and familiar roar sounded from behind them, and when Shiro and his mother looked to see what it was, they saw that the Black Lion had rose from it's seat and now lowered it's head with the jaw ramp dropped to the ground. Shiro gasped and almost laughed. He felt the lion seem to except him again, as if it knew somehow that this would all happen. Shiro smiled and he heard his mother give a small gasp.

"Man, I've missed a lot over the years. You will catch me up on everything, right?" Eliza asked with an excited smile.

"Of course," Shiro said, taking his mother's hand, "I'll explain everything on the way."

"On the way to where?"

"Corsant."

Keith walked on and on through the forest. He could see the mountain's peak tower over the tree line and so he knew he was headed in the right direction. Keith still wondered how he would find this person who knew about his father. Soon enough, Keith was at the foot of the mountain. He looked to his left, then his right, looking for some kind of path or sign. To his right, he suddenly saw something and recognized it almost right away.

It was a trail. It lead through the trees and probably up the mountain. Keith came to it and took a few steps down it, but for some reason he paused, wondering where this trail would take him. Up to the mountain's summit no doubt, but where in his past? Would he remember more? What more was there for him to find? More questions… and there was only one way to find the answer.

Keith breathed away the uncomfort of the unknowing, and walked on up the trail. He walked for a bit, until he suddenly heard faded, echoing voices. As soon as heard them, he stopped to listen, but they began to fade away as soon as he did, as if carried off by the wind. As soon as he felt them begin to drift away, Keith continued to walk on, and the voices gradually came back. It was like they were leading him on, and he would lose them if he stopped for too long. Keith followed the trail onward, hearing the voices talking back and forth as if having light hearted conversation. The trail was so well laid out that it was exactly like a hiking trail, and it excited him and also gave him a sense of being back on Earth. On he walked, following the never slowing trail up the mountain. Keith saw ghostlike glimpses of someone walking ahead of him. Every time he looked around, he saw glimpses of a younger version of the trail. Even when parts of the trail were shrouded by overgrown plants, Keith could see a ghost like version of the trail in his mind's eye.

As Keith walked up the trail, he kept seeing certain rocks or trees which gave him a strange sense of how far he was, as if he had traveled up this mountain many times. A rock about the height of Keith's waist which looked like an egg turned over on it's side gave him a familiar sense that he was almost to the halfway point. A small opening of the path that made for a good resting spot seemed like the halfway point. It was a long, but pleasant hike. It wasn't all an upward climb; the trail was evenly balanced with upgrades and downgrades, with an abundance of shade and sunlight. The trail turned and curved, but never did it get boring. Keith began to hear the distant and pleasant sounds of animals calling to one another. The sun peeked through the branches and leaves of the trees. The trees seemed to breath in and out deeply, as if they had been holding their breath in fear or dread of the presents of a stranger. Now the once very quiet and seemingly unsure forest springed with life. Keith saw many different kinds of animals who at first watched him with curiosity, then bounded, scattered or flew away. Keith saw small bugs going about their business along the trail, and he took care to avoiding stepping on them and their little settlements scattered about the sides of the trail. Everything seemed more colorful in the afternoon sun. Brightly colored flowers and plant life seemed to spring and stretch out from the ground. Keith felt welcomed by it all, and couldn't help but look in awe and wonder at the things around him. It all felt familiar, like seeing something from a dream. One step at a time, and each step drew him closer to the end.

The sun was setting by the time Keith got to the end of the trail. While the hike had been pleasant, it had taken up an entire day and he was tired and hungry. After climbing up one last stretch of rocky terrain, Keith found himself directly facing the bright setting sun as he stood at the edge of a large clearing, the trail seeming to end here. None of the trees blocked the sun's rays. Now the only trees around were the ones behind him and the rugged face of the mountain towered above to the right. As soon as Keith stood at the top, the voices all faded away, not like they were still going on ahead of him, but as if they had led him to where they wanted and now stood silent. Waiting.

Keith now stood still and felt a cool breeze rush to eagerly meet him. He embraced it, his thirst for nature quenched and fully content as he felt the warm sun on his face. It had been a long journey up this mountain, but right now, Keith wasn't worried about anything. Not the time it had taken, not what he would find. He just felt at peace for some reason in the quiet of the clearing. As Keith inhaled and let his head tilt back just a little, he closed his eyes, feeling distant memories slowly take his hand and gently lead him into the past, and for the first time, he didn't even think to fight it.

Keith heard the voices of his mother and father mixed with each other along with his own. The ghost-like images that played in his mind were blurry but real. For a moment, the blurred memories and voices bounced about, all filled with happiness and joy, until they all suddenly stopped and seemed to fade away as a noise broke through them. Keith opened his eyes and hearing that the noise came from the right, he looked in that direction to see what it was. A small cabin stood not far away, the door facing him and the back facing the mountain side. Keith saw that the wind had blown a neat cluster of glass which hung by a string off the roof of the cabin. The glass made a cluster of light sounds as they clinked against each other. The cabin was small and about the size of the one Keith lived in back on Earth. Keith did miss that cabin. It was where he grew up, or at least where he most remembered growing up.

Keith walked towards the cabin. He came to the door and stopped. After a moment, he lifted his fist to the door and knocked.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Keith asked.

There was no response, so Keith knocked again.

"My name is Keith-" He then suddenly paused.

He was so used to saying that he was a paladin of Voltron that he almost said it right then, but he caught himself before it slipped out.

"I'm...I'm looking for someone." He decided to said, now leaning on the door a little.

As his weight shifted a little on the door, the loose lock let the door slip inward and Keith found himself stumbling to catch himself. As the door swung open, it revealed the inside of the cabin.

Dust particles drifted through the air like tiny butterflies, gliding through the air and only visible because the sun's rays peeked through the window curtains. Keith looked around the dusty room. It looked to be the living room, with the kitchen to the right and a short hall leading to the bedrooms to the left. Keith wandered into the house, but he never really got any further than the living room. As he began to walk in towards the center of the room, he once again felt that familiar feeling of remembrance. As Keith walked on, it was like he began to walk through a doorway which led to a different time while in the same place. He stood in the middle of the room, and suddenly saw a younger version of himself crouching behind the couch.

"Oh Keith?" he heard his mother call from the hallway.

Keith watched as she entered the living room, looking around.

"Hm, I wonder where my little boy could be." she said aloud, placing her hands on her hips as she stood still for a moment and looked around the room.

Keith saw himself muffle a laugh between his knees, which were brought up close to his chest, as his mother searched the living room. As she began to come to the couch, he wait for her to peek around the other side before darting to the kitchen and hiding behind the island table in the center. His mother had undoubtedly heard the pat of his bare feet as he ran through the kitchen, and trying to hide a smile she looked around the room again as if she had no idea of where he could possibly be.

"Hmm…." She turned her back, purposefully, to where Keith was hiding in the kitchen.

Keith saw himself give a daring smile. He then saw himself begin to creep up behind his mother, taking care to be very quiet so he wouldn't give himself away. His mother then quite suddenly began to turn around, and Keith chose that moment to jump up at her, wrapping his arms around her waist with a "boo!"

His mother gave a surprised yelp and then scooped him up laughing.

"You sneaky little you!" She said playfully, twirling around in a short lived circle.

"When do you think Dad will be home?" Keith saw himself ask as he messed with his mother's hair.

"I'm sure he's on his way home right now." She responded, brushing some of Keith's hair out of his face so she could see his eyes better.

"Can I go outside and wait for him?" Keith asked hopefully, his face brightening.

"Alright, but stay near the house and don't go racing down the trail when you see him. I don't want you tripping and falling flat on your face like last time." Eliza said with a humoris smile and after she set Keith down, he went out the door.

Keith stepped aside and watched himself walk right past and out the door, and he followed.

Keith followed his younger self outside. He saw the young boy sit down in the grass and mess with the blades and flowers among them. Keith himself didn't sit right away, and even if he had, it wouldn't have been long before his younger self looked up and gave a small gasp. Before Keith saw what the younger boy was looking at, the boy was dashing up and racing for the trail as a familiar looking person began to walk into sight.

"Daddy!" Keith heard himself shout as he raced to his father.

Logan, dresses in his Mamora Blade outfit, scooped up his son and just about threw him up in the air.

"What's up kiddo?" Logan asked as he rustled his son's hair.

All the sudden, as if being interrupted, the image of Keith and his father rippled away like water. Keith was still standing outside, and had a clear view of the trail. The wind blew through his hair, his back to it and the setting sun. Keith wished he could go back to that memory and relive it. Seeing his father walk up that path and greet him with that same, ruff but kind and fatherly voice. Keith wished he could go back and see his mother's face, and he wondered if he would ever see her again.

Keith's gaze had fallen slightly as he thought on these things, but movement up ahead caused him to look back up. Someone was walking up the trail, head down and covered by a helmet and hood. A Blade of Mamora helmet and hood. The warrior walked up the path and was a few yards away from Keith before he looked up and stopped. The two saw each other, and a long silence settled between them. Keith scanned the warrior and wondered why he was out here all alone and here above all places.

"Who are you?" A rough, hard toned voice asked from behind the helmet.

"My name is Keith. This old alien named Malla sent me up here saying you knew what happened to my father." Keith blurted out.

The warrior cocked his head a little.

"Your father? Why would I know anything about your father? I've never even-" the warrior suddenly stopped, the rough and defensive tone in his voice stopping with it: only to speak with suddenly a different tone in his voice.

"Wait, what did you say your name was again?"

"Uh...Keith. Keith Krogan." Replied Keith.

The warrior stood there for a minute, the small inclinations of his head indicating deep thought and soon after that, realization.

"Keith Krogan, huh?" He asked, focusing on Keith.

"Yeah."

"...and your mother, what was her name?"

Keith was hesitant to respond.

"Just so I know your who I think you are, and not just someone with the same name." The warrior asurred.

Keith waited a second to reply.

"Eliza."

"My father's name is Logan." Keith hoped this would clear something up.

"Logan? I haven't heard that name in a long time." The warrior responded.

Keith took a step forward, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"So you know him?" Keith asked.

"Aye…." the warrior responded.

The Mamora Blade warrior's helmet faded away after he spoke, the hood rippling in the wind but not yet being pulled back. The face of the warrior was hidden beneath the hood's shadow, that is until the warrior slowly drew it back. It was as Keith expected, a Gulra, but he didn't look completely Gulran. His eyes looked human, and the color of the iris was that of a deep blue. His ears, although still looking fairly Gulran, were smaller and shaped slightly different and could be compared to a human's quite easily. It was soon clear that this was a half breed Gulra, but that wasn't what made Keith gasp. This half Gulra looked familiar, and right after seeing him, Keith knew who it was.

Keith was silent, the shock of who stood but a few feet from him overwhelming. The half Gulra didn't look as shocked, but a look of relief and joy was seen in his eyes. They both stood like that for a minute, as if trying to decide whether this was all really happening. They were both silent, until finally the half Gulra found the only words to speak and when he spoke, it was in a familure, warm and fatherly voice.

"...How've you been kiddo?" Logan asked with wet eyes and a tender smile.

After hearing that voice and seeing that smile, Keith just couldn't stand still. He ran to his father and fell into his arms, tears falling. Logan wrapped his son into a warm hug. Keith tried to hold back the sobs, but after finding that his father who he had thought dead all this time was alive, he soon found he had a right to cry. Logan himself was crying, but then his sobs began to become a joyous chuckle.

"How in all the world are you here?" Logan asked, finally breaking away from his son so he could see his face and response.

Keith's head was hanging now, not looking at his father for a moment.

"I...I'm sorry…." He said, and Logan was taken back by these words, blinking.

"What? What do you mean?" Logan asked.

"I forgot you. I forgot all about you…. I don't know how that even happened but it did…. For the longest time, I didn't remember you, or mom, or any of this…. I just forgot it all and I'm so sorry…." Keith shook his head in shame, the realization hitting him like a bullet.

How could he have forgotten all this and then just remembered it years later?! Keith didn't know why, but how he wanted to. His father was silent for a moment, searching for something to say. Then Logan gently lifted his son's head, looking at him with identical eyes.

"No, I am sorry. I left you. Even though I chose to save you first, I didn't stay with you. I failed in my duty as a father to chose my family over the mission. I left you Keith, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. So don't apologize to me, please accept my apology... to you…." Logan spoke with words that dripped of regret and sincerity.

Keith stared at his father. Never once did he ever blam his father for what had happened. It was then that he realized that both he and his father felt at fault from the past. Keith gave his father a warm smile, and finding nothing else to say, he moved closer and put his arms around him. Logan did the same, and the two stood like that for a moment. Father and son, finally reunited. The peaceful voice of the wind was the only sound they both hear for a long time, that is until there was a deep roll of something that sounded like thunder coming from the sky.

Logan and Keith both heard it at the same time, and when they both looked up, they gasped to see a Gulran starship beginning to come into orbit, just barely visible against the darkening sky. Logan and Keith stared at the sky. Why would a Gulran star ship be here?! Keith suddenly wondered if they had tracked him somehow, but then he shook that away, finding no logical explanation for how. As the father and son stared up at the ship and gasped to see several others entering the atmosphere, several questions came into their minds, but the only thing they said -and they said it together- was,

"Great…."

 _*note to readers* Hello! Sorry this chapter took so long to publish, but I'm working through it XD anyway, thank you for reading this story and not giving up on it! Your a real trooper!! XD stay tuned for what's up next and I hope you have a wonderful day and week! Flicout! XD_


	9. Chapter Nine Pt One

Chapter Nine

The Connection of Family

Part One:

Tears of Healing

"I've never seen anything like this…." Eliza said, looking around the cockpit of the Black Lion as they flew through space, on their way to Corsant.

Shiro sat in the pilote seat, his helmet on and hands resting easily on the controls.

"Yeah, it definitely takes your breath away the first time." Shiro said, recalling the first time he had seen the cockpit of the Blue Lion and sat in the pilote seat of the Black Lion for the first time.

"I'll say." Eliza said, now looking ahead as they raced through space. "So, if I heard you correctly, this mechanical Black Lion has a bond with you?"

"Yep, and it's strong enough for the Lion to protect me when I'm in danger." Shiro replied.

"That's incredible, but what about with the Lorope attack? Your Lion didn't seem to be protecting you when that happened."

"Maybe it somehow knew that you would." Shiro said with a shrug.

"It must be far smarter than one could ever guess, huh?" Eliza asked.

Shiro chuckled.

"Yeah. He's the decisive head of Voltron though, so I guess he'd have to be." He commented.

Eliza chuckled.

"Yes. It wouldn't be very good if he weren't." she said.

They shared another chuckle and then were both silent for a moment.

"So, the Galaxy Garrisons?" Eliza now asked Shiro curiously.

Shiro smiled a little.

"Yeah, I joined. Just like you did." He said modestly.

Eliza brightened.

"Really? That's amazing Takash!" Eliza said, shaking Shiro's shoulder a little in excitement.

Takash. A name Shiro hadn't heard in years suddenly spoken by someone who had come back from the dead. Shiro couldn't believe all this wasn't a dream.

"Yeah." Shiro said, trying to sound casual. "They're actually the reason -well- part of the reason I got all the way out here."

"Oh? And... the other part?" Eliza asked, eyeing Shiro's prosthetic arm.

Shiro glanced down at his arm also, and after a moment he looked away and back ahead.

"...the Gulra."

Eliza's eyebrows furrowed.

"The, Gulra?" She asked hesitantly, and her tone caused Shiro to glance at her.

Something about the way she said the name sounded odd. He could see her gaze had drifted as if in thought, and her eyes began to drift all over as she thought more and more.

"Gulra. What do that sound...?" She muttered.

Suddenly, she gave a sharp gasp and almost stepped backward a little, as if staggering. Shiro's eyes fixed on her now and he saw her suddenly look straight ahead, eyes wide and looking distant. She said nothing, just stared out at the space in front of them. Her gaze spoke of someone who was recalling sudden, terrible events.

"Mom?" Shiro asked, looking at her with concern.

She didn't respond, didn't even blink, and he could see her begin to almost tremble.

"Mom?" Shiro asked again, his concern growing. "Mom!"

He took his hand away from the controls to grip her's. At the third sound of her name and feeling her hand being touched, Eliza blinked and seemed to be knocked out of whatever trance she was in. She looked down to her son, and he saw something was wrong deep in her eyes. She looked at him for a minute, then down at his hand gripping her's. She looked back up at him and then tried to cover up what was wrong with a small smile and chuckle, moving her hand out of his to clasp it with her other.

"Whoops. Sorry. Kinda zoned out for a second there. What were we talking about?" Eliza asked, her voice hiding something.

Shiro looked at her in concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." she lied, playing a careless shrug.

Shiro brought the Black Lion to a sudden stop, turning in his chair to face his mother directly.

"Mom," he said, voice utterly stern, "something is up. There's something you aren't telling me. Does it involve the Gulra?"

Eliza was silent for a minute, having never expected her son to take a stern tone with her, but rather then going defensive, she realized he was only concerned. Seeing the protective look in Shiro's eyes made her break and she sighed.

"Yes," she finally spoke, "unfortunately, it does involve the Gulra."

Eliza then, with another sigh, bowed her head slightly and turned her head to the left as she pulled her hair back, revealing her right ear: and behind her ear, there was some kind of metal implant with fant, glowing purple circuits which was embedded into her scalp. Shiro felt his blood begin to boil with rage.

"What, did, they, do?" Shiro asked in a low, almost growling tone, his hands tightening and clenching into fists.

Eliza let her hair fall back down again, the Gulran implant out of Shiro's glaring sight, and she looked back down at him. She lifted her hand to her right eye, and without much struggle, she seemed to pull out what looked like some kind of lense that looked just like the surface of a human eye. Shiro gasped to see a Gulran engineered eye now look at him along with the other real eye. The eye moved and followed the other one as if it were her real eye, but it wasn't. The Gulra had no doubt taken it from her like they had taken his hand and arm. He grid his teeth, the anger surging through him. Eliza's gaze turned soft and she rested a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"We were just about to contact Earth when they came. They said we had wandered into their territory. We didn't even have a chance to try and give an explanation. They attacked. In a single shot, our ship was in critical condition, and soon everyone was gone: everyone except me. They took me aboard their ship and…." Eliza took a breath, as if remembering what had happened and not wanting to go on, but she did.

"Long story short, my left eye was fine, but my right would never heal, so they made use of me. They gave me this implant and a specially engineered eye which is connected to it. They were trying upgrade my brain into a kind of computer, one that could access files and data and hold secrets too dangerous to keep in a drive. The eye scans and allows me to see things that a computer can, the implant helps me store everything I download and other things as well. I can easily and wireless download information. I can solve equations, hack into enemy information and store secrets. The Gulra were even able to access secrets I was denied, all they had to do was link my implant to their software and put in the pass code. I was their slave and mobile computer. They took me to all kinds of bases scattered throughout the galaxy, too many for me to count. I learned quickly to do as I was told, but how I hated it. The things they made me do. I exploited rebel spies among their ranks, installed viruses, reprogrammed their enemy's ships to attack each other…. Finally, I had to stop it. I chose the perfect moment, and rebelled, fleeing with a band of rebels in an escape pod. The Gulra must have been prepared for this to happen. Should I be captured by the enemy, a kill switch in the implant which could be accessed from a long range, was installed and would erase all the data in the implant. Because the implant was binded closely to my brain itself, the kill switch could also kill me, and I think that was the plan. We must have just barely been out of range, or perhaps there was some kind of malfunction with the implant, but when the kill switch activated, it erased the data and damaged my brain, but it failed to eliminate me. I think, the only way I'm able to remember all of this is, because parts of my memories are still in there. Memories that weren't stored in the implant, but maybe they were stored in my actual memory. But, I don't know. They're all so faded and hard to remember. They're just so...scattered…."

Shiro stared at his mother with wide eyes, trying to process everything she had just told him. They had broken her, just like they broken him. His knuckles were no doubt white from how hard he clenched his fists. Eliza noticed his anger, and so gave his shoulder a small squeeze.

"Takashi, there's nothing we can do about it now. It's in the past, and the past isn't something we can change. We can only move forward now." she said, but Shiro still held onto the fact that if he were there that maybe he could have done something.

If he had been there, maybe things would have been just slightly different: his mother wouldn't have had to go through all of it alone for one thing. He just couldn't believe that she had gone through all of that completely alone, just like he had.

After a moment, he took in a breath to calm himself as his mother spoke.

"The first thing I remember on that planet I was stranded on was waking up inside a ship, nothing before that until now. And, I always had this feeling that, there was somewhere else I had to be. This strang urgency. Like, someone was waiting for me, someone who was far away." Eliza said, her shoulders dropping.

She then gave her son a soft smile, "And after some time, I finally remembered who it was, and ever since then, I've been trying to find a way to get back home. To you."

Shiro looked at her and his face softened to a tender smile. After all this time, nothing could make her forget about him, not even the Gulra. They were both silent for a moment, not exactly a peaceful silents, but more like there was nothing else to say kind of silence. Eliza soon sighed again letting her hand slip from Shiro's shoulder. Shiro thought about what his mother said, then suddenly he popped up with a question.

"Wait, you said you escaped in an escape pod, right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Eliza replied.

"When you woke up on that planet, were you still in an escape pod?"

"...actually, no. I wasn't. It was a small ship."

"So you have to have escaped the Gulra and got somewhere else, right?"

"Yes but, I don't know where that could have been."

"Maybe something will jog your memory, and I have a friend who's good with computers and such. Maybe she can help you out somehow." Shiro said this with a brightening expression, thinking of the clever Katie Holt.

"Maybe," Eliza responded thoughtfully, soon puting the lense back on her right eye, "we'll have to see, I'm thinking this little implant of mine can be temperamental. But enough of all this talk, don't we have somewhere to be?"

Shiro sighed, forcing himself back to the Black Lion's controls.

"Alright, but if you remember anything else, tell me, okay?" he said.

"You'll be the first to know Takash." Eliza said with a smile.

Shiro pushed the Black Lion forward and soon after that conversation, they reached Corsant. Shiro felt a sudden overwhelming feeling of doubt and hopelessness as they came up on the planet. How in all the galaxy was he supposed to find Keith?! He didn't even have some kind of way to track him down. He began to search his mind for answers.

"Okay, if I were Keith, where would I go first?" Shiro asked aloud, but he found that there could be a quite a few answers to that question.

"Keith?" Eliza asked.

"Oh yeah, that's my friend who I'm looking for." Shiro elaborated, though he thought of Keith more like a brother than just a friend.

"Hm, Keith. I like that name, for some reason." Eliza said.

"Yeah. It's a good name." Shiro said, trying to sound cheerful, but deep down he was getting all the more worried about his friend.

She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll take each step at a time." she said, trying to encourage him.

He only sighed, wondering if it was all just a lost cause. They were both silent for a moment until Eliza suddenly brightened, and she suddenly squeezed and shook Shiro's shoulder in some kind of excitement.

"Oh! Takashi! I think I have an idea!" she said, her eyes seeming to be looking at a far away place in thought.

"What is it? I'm all ears." Shiro said, looking up at her.

"Not only can I access computers and store data, I can also search for certain common DNA types. What species is Keith?"

"He's human." Shiro said, his eyes flickering with a sudden hope.

"Perfect! Humans are probably quite rare on any planet besides Earth. It's likely that he'll be the only human on Corsant. All I need is some DNA." Eliza stated.

Shiro's eyes died down.

"I don't think I have anything of his with me." He said, thinking this would be a problem.

"That's alright," Eliza said rather brightly overjoyed to be of some kind of help, "DNA is a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes, and I don't need much or some of Keith's in order to track him down. That's what's really nice about this little implant!"

She was silent for a moment, her right eye flickering a bit behind the lense as she looked to be using it.

"Oh, I've already saved human DNA into my implant, now all I need to do is...scan an entire planet." she said, her tone depressing at the end of her sentence.

Shiro saw her point and sudden realization.

"How do we scan an entire planet?" Shiro asked.

"There has to be a way." Eliza said, placing her chin in her right palm and supporting her right arm with her left in thought, tapping her cheek with her finger.

Shiro thought for a moment.

"Could you do it through your implant?" Shiro asked his mother.

"Not without some kind of upgrade, and even then I would have to access some kind of network to install the upgrade. I need something that has a wide range of network access."

Shiro searched his mind for answers to this riddle. Then, after a moment, he brighted, the answer suddenly coming to him. It was as though his mind had been connected to Eliza's, because both of them spoke the exact same thing at once.

"A satellite!" they both said at once.

"That's it!" Eliza said, her voice a little high in excitement. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of that sooner!"

"I know right?!" Shiro half laughed. "So, I guess we're off to find one, a satellite?"

"That we are." Eliza said.

"Hold on a sec." Shiro said, pulling up a screen on the council.

After pressing a few buttons, Shiro narrowed down where the nearest satellite was.

"Here, it's quite close. Just on the other side of the planet. It doesn't look to be guarded." He said.

"Every piece of technology has some kind of defense," Eliza commented, "but I've hacked into thousands of satellites. This should be easy."

She looked down at Shiro with a confident and at ease smile.

"Take us there Black Paladin!" She said.

Shiro chuckled.

"Ey ey, captain." He said as he pushed the Black Lion forward.

They shooted around the planet and in no time the satellite was in their sights.

"Get me in close." Eliza asked, and Shiro got them closer to the satellite.

It loomed above the planet, completely still and unmoving. Shiro brought the Black Lion in close, but before they were even a few yards away, Eliza spoke.

"That's good, I'll be able to do it far quicker at this distance. And since it's not military based, it's shouldn't be all too hard." She said, placing a hand on Shiro's chair for small support.

Shiro watched as her right eye gleamed with the electromatic purple light behind the lense, and he could almost hear it sifting through the data and network of the satellite.

"Scanning structure and software for possible backdoor." Eliza suddenly said in a strange, blank voice, like that you would hear from a computer.

"Infiltrating back door…. Infiltration successful. Programing satellite to search only for, HUMAN DNA…. DNA located and confirmed. Using satellite to scan planet life forms."

Shiro noticed how far away her eyes looked as she spoke. How computerlike her voice sounded as she talked. Her face was blank with no emotion, staring out at the satellite. She stood straight and unmoving, and Shiro felt that nothing would break her free from her state. She was silent for a moment, her mind and implant working together to find what she needed, the eye allowing her to see it. Shiro once again felt a flicker of anger spark in his heart towards the Gulra.

"Scan complete. One result found. Conclusion, object of concern is not on planet Corsant. Tracking last known position." Eliza stated, still in the computer like voice.

Her eye flickered and she was silent for only a second before she spoke again.

"Tracking successful. Location…."

Her implant beeped and Shiro was surprised to see a map appear up on his console screen. A small red dot marked the spot on the planet of where Keith's last location was. Eliza then blinked, as if coming out of her computer trance and reverting back to her normal self, and she now looked at the map.

"And There we are." She said, her cheerful voice a relief to Shiro's ears. "No problem."

She looked back down at Shiro, and his face must have been one of concern or confusion, because she cocked her head a little.

"What?" She asked.

Shiro blinked and glanced at her.

"Uh, nothing. It's just, you weren't talking like yourself. You were saying everything you were doing in this strange, computer kind of way." Shiro said, glancing from his mother, to the map.

Eliza sighed.

"Oh, right." She said in slight depression, and for a second she was silent before elaborating. "The Gulra had programmed the implant so that I would explain what I was doing while using it to hack, so that I couldn't try and secretly do something else without their knowledge. I guess that hasn't changed."

She could see Shiro's concern and sympathy, so she gave him a soft smile which she used to try and brush away the subject.

"Anyway, now that we know where to go, let's see what we can find out down there." She said.

Shiro sighed, and nodded, returning to the controls. Her smile hadn't completely brushed away the subject from his mind, but he forced himself to stay silent and focus on the task at hand. They descended to the planet, soon coming to land outside of a city. After they had landed, Shiro copied the location on the map to his wristband and with that they set out. It was about sunset now, time having moved incredibly fast it seemed. Shiro led the way with Eliza by his side. They walked into the city, not having any trouble doing so. Shiro pulled up the map and looked it over, searching for the best route to take as he and his mother stood now working the city boundaries. Eliza peered over his shoulder, also looking for a good route to take. A small red dot marked their destination while a small black dot marked their location.

"Looks like we'll need to cut through some streets to get there." Shiro commented.

"I think this might be an open area we could cut through." Eliza suggested, pointing to a large open space surrounded by streets on the map.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too." Shiro said, nodding. "Once we cut though, it's only a block away."

Eliza smiled.

"Sweet. Let's get going. The sun's setting and we're losing light fast." She said, looking at the quickly setting sun.

Shiro led the way, and Eliza walked beside him. As they walked on together, their steps nearly identical to each other, Eliza looked at her son. Takashi had grown so much. The fact that he still loved her and was happy to see her after all this time made her heart melt. After all these years, he was still the sweet, kind and loving boy she had always known. She examined his face and could just tell he was a leader. The way he walked, the way he planned things out, even the watchful way he looked around could highlight the attentiveness of a fine leader. Her heart fluttered in pride to see how fine of a man he was. His face, although set in a stern, watchful gaze, had a kind streek to it which she could never forget. Or, at least, she had once thought she could never forget. So many years had passed, and she had forgotten. Forgotten him, her own son. Even now, she couldn't remember all of her past. She remember the Gulra and a little bit before that, but not much. Core memories, she felt, were all she really had, and she probably didn't even have all of them. Bits and pieces to a puzzle which she wondered if she would ever solve.

Eliza stopped as she and Shiro came to a street corner. She observed how Shiro looked both ways and waited for some traffic to cross. She vaguely remembered how he had always liked to call out his favorite colored car as they passed when he was young, but she couldn't remember what color.

"Look ma," she suddenly heard a small voice say to her left.

Eliza looked down to see a young alien holding onto his mother's hand beside them, and he pointed to something. Eliza didn't look to see what it was, but rather socked in the sight of the little one holding his mother's hand as they waited to cross. Her mind drifted off as she vaguely remember Shiro at that age, whatever age that must have been. A dark purple vehicle passed them by, and that's when Eliza suddenly remembered.

"Oh look, a purple one." she suddenly said aloud, Shiro's little voice in her mind as she said it.

She was instantly embarrassed though after saying these words, and Shiro noticed the awkward look on her face.

"That used to be my favorite color as a kid." Shiro commented, trying to lighten the embarrassment with the memory.

His mother looked at him, slightly surprised that he remembered and that he said it out loud, but she overcame the surprise and nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I do think it was." she said, sounding more sure of it now.

She looked back to traffic to look for an opening. Shiro gave a small smile as he looked at her for a moment, then he turned his attention back to traffic, but not before he casually slipped his hand in her's like he had so often done when he was a kid. He wasn't able to see her expression right away, but he felt her grip his hand also as they stood there. Soon enough, they were able to cross the street and they did so, side by side. Even after they had crossed and reached the other side of the street though, Shiro still didn't let go of his mother's hand.

"You haven't grown out of the holding of my hand? Even as an adult?" Eliza now asked as they walked, glad that her son hadn't, but curious all the same.

She had expected him to hold her hand briefly and then let go, but he hadn't. Shiro shrugged modestly.

"I told you I never would." he said casually.

"You did?" Eliza asked, and he could tell by her tone that she had no memory of it.

"Yeah," Shiro responded, looking at her, "even when I was seven years old, I still held your hand once in a while."

"Oh, I guess I don't remember it." She said, sad that she had forgotten a moment which now felt so precious to her heart.

Shiro's gaze fell a bit. That implant sure had done a number on her. Eliza was just as hurt and scarred as he himself was, and the thought made his heart ache. They walked in silence for a while, their steps matching and their shadows hidden within the shadow of the building on their left. They both checked the map once in a while to make sure they were going the right way, but other than that and waiting to cross the street, they had no stops. On they walked in peaceful silents, and soon they had reached the large opening; their shortcut. Turns out, it was a large public park with grass and some trees and little walkways going through it. In the park's center was a small fountain, which gleamed in the setting sun's light. They soon came out of the shadow of the building and into the warm and bright sun. They walked along the small path leading through the park, looking around and enjoying the walk. For the first time in what felt like a long time, Shiro felt at ease and with no rush. They were nearing the fountain when his mother broke their silence.

"How, old were you when I disappeared?" Eliza suddenly asked, her voice sounding completely lost, as if nothing she could do would cause her to remember what she desired to know.

"Um," Shiro thought about it for a minute, counting the years, "I was about, seven."

"Oh," Eliza responded, "and, how long has it been?"

Her question caused Shiro to pause in a brief flashback of painful remembrance, and he was silent for a minute as they slowly walked on.

"Eighteen." Shiro finally said, his voice weighed down by sadness. "Eighteen long years."

Eliza's hand suddenly slipped from his as she stopped abruptly, now standing between the fountain on her left and a park bench on her right. Shiro stopped also and looked back at her, standing a foot or two away from her. The setting sun's light reflected off the water and it sparkled and shined as mother and son stood still for a moment. Shiro looked at his mother, a little confused and slightly concerned, and his expression asked his inward question of if she was alright. Eliza stood still, half of her face bright in the light of the sun and the other half dark in shadow. She stood on one side of the fountain's shadow as Shiro stood on the other, and her expression was one of deep sorrow and hurt as her gaze dropped, taking in how many years had past.

"...eighteen..." She uttered in disbelief, and her hands came together in front of her, as if to try and take hold of time lost. "I missed, eighteen years of your life. Every moment of laughter which I was not there to hear and every tear you had that I might have been there to wipe away. Every moment, where you could've needed me..." her voice trembled as she finished, her eyes growing wet, "...and I wasn't there..."

Eliza bowed her head, trying to hide silent tears as her hair hung down and covered her eyes from Shiro's view. Shiro stood silent for a moment, having compassion and hearing her sniff, he came to his mother and gently took her hands in his. He could tell she hadn't expected him to do this, and she slowly looked up at him, her watery eyes staring into his. He gently wiped a tear from her cheek as well as the hair covering some of her face, and he gave her a tender smile.

"Every moment missed, is a moment of sadness and loss." he told her, his own eyes growing wet. "But every moment now, good or bad, is a moment we have together. And good or bad, I never want to miss any of them ever again."

Eliza's tears stopped as he told her this. Most men Shiro's age, and many sons and daughters in general, would never give their mothers the time of day. They're too busy living out their young lives to give their mothers heed or even comfort: and most of the time they wouldn't even notice the presence of their mother. Shiro on the other hand had still held her hand and stayed by her side, walking with her, not ahead or even behind. He had seen her in pain and wanted to help. He was even kind enough to wipe a tear from her cheek, and to comfort her. Eliza sniffed again, closing her eyes for a moment only to open them and look back up at her son.

"How lucky I am to have a son like you." She said, a tender smile coming to her lips as she looked at her son, all grown up, but still her boy. "I don't know if a god exists or what I did to deserve you, but as sure as the sun rises and sets, I'll never leave you to be alone ever again." She said.

At hearing her words, Shiro felt his own tears break and fall free from his eyes. For the longest time, Shiro had always vowed never to cry where prying eyes could not see the tears in his. For the longest time, when he cried in secret in the middle of the night, he just let the tears fall, not wiping them away since he was all alone. No one was there to clear them from his cheeks. His mother, was the only exception, and each tear would have continued to fall untouched if she had not been there to wipe each one away.

Eliza brought her son close to her, and Shiro held onto her tightly. She rested her hand on the back of his head, like she had always done when comforting him in years past. She rocked side to side, holding him up even as he was standing. It might have looked unusual to anyone who saw them, but no one was out at that time of the day, and it felt good to them both. The love of his mother which Shiro had missed for eighteen lonely years, was finally here with him again. He couldn't help but quietly cry, not really sure if they were tears of joy or tears of pain, but, perhaps they were neither. Perhaps, they were just tears which had to come out. Perhaps, they were just true tears of healing.

After a moment, the tears which needed to be shed had run their course, and Shiro was able to calm down. When he finally stepped back, his eyes were red like his mother's. She smiled softly at him, reaching up and caressing his cheek. They were both silent for a moment, a calm, peaceful silents which only Shiro and his mother understood. Finally, Eliza let her hand slip from Shiro's cheek.

"You ready?" She asked gently, her voice surprisingly calm and controlled despite her still red eyes.

Shiro inhaled deeply and gave a shaky sighed, his gaze drifting to the fountain for a moment. He watched the cool water flow smoothly, regaining his emotions and giving himself a little time to fully calm down. He then looked back at his mother with calm, unburdened eyes.

"Yeah." He finally said. "And you?"

His mother nodded, her gentle smile not leaving her face. She then began to lead the way on through the path, Shiro coming to her side. He didn't feel compelled to slip his hand in hers this time, but that was only because he knew that they both felt content just walking side by side. The presences of the other was enough. They walked in sink all the way to their destination, leaving the park and fountain behind.

"Looks like this is it." Shiro said as they came to the spot and he read the sign aloud. "Mordon's repair shop. We'd best hurry in and ask about Keith before they close up for the day."

"You go ahead," Eliza said, "I'll stay here."

"You sure? Is everything alright?" Shiro asked, looking back at his mother.

Eliza smiled and nodded.

"Of course. We may have to scan another planet again to find Keith though, and I thought I'd upgrade my implant for the task should there not be a satellite around." Eliza said, looking like she was already beginning the process.

"Oh, good plan." Shiro agreed with a nod. "I'll be right out with hopefully good news."

"Roger that." Eliza responded with a nod, and with that Shiro entered the store.

The store itself was filled with tools and small installable parts on shelves all around, the main repair garage being in the back of the store. Shiro looked around the store and the first person he saw was an alien at the front counter, reading a magazine. The alien looked up as Shiro came closer to the counter.

"Evening," the alien greeted, "the name's Mordon. What can I do for you today?"

Shiro came to the counter with a polite smile.

"Hi, I was wondering if you've seen someone pass by here not long ago?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, I see. Do you have a name?" Mordon asked.

"Keith." Shiro answered, and his eyes contained a desperate hope.

Mordon's eyes gazed upward in thought.

"Short fella, dark hair and eyes, light colored skin. Are all these things sound'n failure?" Mordon asked, looking back at Shiro to make sure these things were ringing bells.

"Yes! That's him!" Shiro said, his voice sparked with a hopeful tone.

Mordon nodded with a smile.

"Oh yeah, he had come here ask'n about his mother. I've not seen her in years and all I did was mention Forelongs and then he kinda just started speak'n nonsense which I didn't hear all that well and rushed out the door. I haven't seen him since then." Mordon said, his face turning to slight confusion and worry.

Shiro's face lit up.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, in triumph, unable to contain his joy and relief and before Mordon could even ask who Shiro was, the Black Paladin was out the door, but not before remembering his manners and expressing his gratitude.

"Thank you!" Shiro said as he hurriedly exited, leaving Mordon alone and confused.

"Out so soon?" Eliza asked as she saw Shiro exit the store.

"Yeah, and with good knews!" Shiro said, looking relieved, "How's that upgrade?"

"Its nearly at ten percent and gaining. It should be finished by the time we get back to your lion." Eliza responded with a nod.

"Great, I know where we're headed, I just hope it's not too far from here." Shiro responded, his feet almost shuffling in how eagar he was to be off.

"And where are we headed?" Eliza asked.

"Forelongs." Shiro replied.

He saw his mother blink and cock her head to one side slightly as her gaze wandered away, her expression one of sudden thought or recognition.

"What is it?" Shiro asked.

"I don't know." Eliza said. "The name certainly sounds familiar, though I can't remember how. Maybe it was a planet I visited for when I was with the Gulra?"

She sounded as if this was a total guess, not an assumption, just as in the dark as Shiro was. Eliza then after a second looked back up at Shiro, the thinking look gone.

"Anyway, we best be going. Lead the way Takashi." She said with a confident smile.

Shiro didn't need to be asked twice, and he was soon leading them back the way they had come in haisty steps. They passed through the streets, the walk not as slow as it had been on their way to the garage, but not at all on edge. Eliza could tell Shiro was very eager to find his friend, and she herself was quite eagar to meet him. On Forelongs….

...Forelongs. The name sounded dreadfully familiar, but how and why, Eliza could not figure out. Her mind drifted, searching her scattered memories to try and find a clue of what it meant. What was so important about Forelongs? What did it mean? Her body followed Shiro, but her mind was off in search, and she wasn't brought back to the real world around her until she passed a fountain on her left. Eliza stopped, suddenly captivated by the scene around her. The fountain now stood on her left, her shadow cast upon it and the water, and the glimmer of the water at this angle was suddenly, familiar. Not the kind of familiar in that she had seen it but a few moments ago. This was a dream kind of familiar. Eliza's mind was lost in the picture of the fountain now, and she began to walk, this time following the rounded circle of stone encasing the water. She walked slowly, her steps seeming to echo in her own ears. She heard a voice, and she suddenly realized it was her's. She stopped, and began to recall something which made her gasp. She slowly began to remember. Calling out a familiar name. Walking past a bench. Looking around for someone. Suddenly feeling small arms wrap around her legs with a small voice exclaiming, "Boo!" Looking down and seeing a cute little boy smiling playfully up at her. Scooping him up in her arms and twirled him around.

"Were you hiding this whole time?" she heard herself ask in the dreamlike memory.

The adorable little boy smiled and nodded, looking at her with the darkest blue eyes. She heard herself chuckle.

"Come on, we need to get back to the garage before our ship leaves without us."

The words echoed, Eliza's gaze far off in sudden and extreme remembrance. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten more than she ever thought possible. That she had forgotten someone very important. Her eyes widened in panic as she came back to the present time, one thing escaping her lungs in a gasp.

"Keith!"

The soft and elegant steps of a princess echoed through the halls of the Castle of Lions. Allura walked hastily to the bridge. She could take it no longer. She had expected Shiro to contact the team after his departure maybe after a few hours, but it had been at least two days with no contact. Last time she had checked, and she had checked multiple, the Black Lion had remained in one place on a planet for a very long time, long enough to be a night at least, and still no word from their leader. Allura had been busy helping the rest of the paladins give out some food supplies to refugees fleeing from the Gulra to check again today. One of the refugees had asked about the Black Lion and all Allura could say was that he was off on some business but would be back soon, but she had been growing all the more anxious ever since.

Finally, Allura reached the bridge, only to find that everyone else was there as well, Lance was standing near his chair, Coran at his little control panel and Hunk and Pidge in their seats.

"Okay, I know everyone's thinking it so I'm just gonna say it." Lance announced as Allura walked in. "Shiro and Keith have been gone WAY too long!"

"There hasn't been any contact from either of them in more than twenty-four vargas," Pidge reasoned, "something has to be wrong."

"I couldn't agree more, Pidge," Allura said as she walked to her place in the middle of the room, "and that is why I'm going to contact Shiro this minute and see what's up. I just hope that he and Keith are alright."

Everyone was in silent agreement as Allura first brought up the Black Lion's location.

"Well, at least the Black Lion is moving again. That's a good sign, or at least I hope." She said aloud. "Now to call Shiro and see if he responds."

Allura made the call. The team waited anxiously to see the familiar face of their leader. After a few seconds, the blank screen finally gave way to show the face of the Black Paladin.

"Princess Allura?" Shiro asked, as if almost surprised.

"Shiro, we haven't heard from you in two quintants, is everything alright. Have you found Keith?" Allura asked, her voice filled with relief to see Shiro and questions abounding.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I hadn't really looked at how long I've been gone. We know where Keith is now and we're on our way to him. We should be getting close by now."

"Wait a tick," Lance said, realizing that something was different, "we?"

Team Voltron almost gasped to see a woman slowly, as if not wanting to intrude, poke her head into the frame of the screen inquisitively. She soon gave them a polite smile of greeting and a little wave.

"Hello." she said in a warm and friendly voice.

Everyone was silent as they looked from her to Shiro, questions in all their eyes.

"It's a long story." Shiro said. "I'll tell you guys all about it once we find-"

"Takashi," the woman spoke in a suddenly low voice, seeming to look past the screen and at something far away ahead of them, "we're about to have company."

Shiro took heed of her warning immediately and looked past the screen for a moment. He gasped right as a red alert sounded from the Castle of Lions.

"Coran, what's happening?" Allura asked, but Shiro beat Coran to the same problem as he looked back down to his team.

"A Gulra fleet just showed up!" Shiro said, his voice calm but having a sense of urgency. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can but I'll need backup sooner rather than later!"

"Right," Allura said with a nod, "we're on our way to your location. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Copy that." Shiro relied and that with a nod, he disconnected.

"Coran, make preparations for a wormhole jump." Allura said as she looked at the man.

"Already on it Princess." Coran said, already preparing the ship for the jump.

Allura turned to Lance, Pidge and Hunk.

"Paladins, get to your lions. We may need Voltron."

 _*note to readers* Whatz up everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are eagar for the next one. If not, I totally understand, it's my fault that I've dragged this out for so long but be that as it may I'm still not giving up on this story, even though season seven just came out -which was awesome! Am I right?! Anyway, I'm sure you all noticed that right below the chapter name there's that little "Part One" deal. This chapter and the one that I'm posting after it are indeed connnected, the events in the chapters taking place at the same time, thus why the parters. Part two is gonna be so much fun to write and it will reveil many of the hidden secrets of the past, this why I'm so excited and I hope you guys are too. So anyway, that's that, I hope you guys are still loving this story and are willing to read it all the way through. I love the support you've all given it and I'm very thankful for it all, even if you've lost interest and have decided to stop reading: my thanks to you all nine the less. Anyhoo, stay safe, have a wonderful week and stay tuned for the next chapter of A Matter Of Family! Thanks for reading and God Bless! Flicout! XD_


	10. Chapter Nine Part Two

_*note to readers* Hi guys! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to publish and I won't take up too much of your time for reading this. I just wanted to say thank you all so much for still reading this story. It's been a long one, for writing at least (though some of you might have blasted through all the current chapters and for that I salute you XD), but it's been a blast to write as well! Once again thank you all for everything and feel free to leave your thoughts! XD Now, without further ado..._

Chapter Nine

The Connection of Family

Part Two

Secrets Kept By The Past

During the events of the previous chapter.

"What could've brought them here?!" Keith asked aloud as he and Logan looked up at the Galra star ships entering the atmosphere like something you'd see in a science fiction TV series.

Keith had a fleeting thought that maybe they could have somehow followed him here, but there was no logical explanation and so he ignored that irrational fear. Logan squinted at the cruisers.

"I count about three for now." Logan said. "It looks like their planning on landing from how their moving."

"What could they be here for?" Keith wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure." Logan responded with an honest shrug. "This planet is pretty much just woodlands without not much civilization. They wouldn't have any reason to come here, unless..." he suddenly drifted off in thought.

Keith looked at his father and saw Logan's face was crossed between dread and realization.

"Unless, what?" Keith asked, knowing the answer wouldn't be good.

Logan looked up at his son a moment.

"Unless there's been another quintessence spike." Logan said.

"What do you mean?" Keith asked, an eyebrow instinctively raising.

"Forelongs has never been famous for anything really," Logan began, "but one thing about it that remains a secret to a lot of the universe is that once in a while, a small pocket of quintessence spikes up in certain place on the planet's surface. Raw, quintessence. No one knew why. The Blade of Mamora had discovered it not long after we settled a refugee camp, and we barricaded it and tried our best to hide and protect the recurring quintessence from Galran sensors, which couldn't detect it except at close range. But eventually they found it…."

"...and that's why they attacked the town?" Keith asked.

"Yes," Logan said with a nod, "or at least, that was part of it. The Mamora had set up a small base within the town to keep in contact with the other Blades. They also set up security in that base protecting Blade of Mamora related information and the quintessence information as well. When the Galra came, one fleet had already located where the quintessence was, and the other was ransacking the town in order to conquer as well as gather whatever intel they could. They would have found it if we had not erased all the data in our computer system and fled."

Keith looked back to the cruisers.

"So, why isn't this place overrun by the Galra?" He asked.

"They actually spent a few years sucking up all the quintessence they could, nearly killed the entire planet looking for more, but eventually, they saw no more use for the planet. Surprisingly enough, they left it alone to seemingly rot. But, Forelongs managed to pick itself back up and has been thriving alone and peacefully for several years. Scarred, but alive." Logan explained, his gaze temporarily drifting to the beautiful landscape.

"But now the Galra are back." Keith said, looking back at his father.

Logan looked back at his son, sighing.

"Yeah." Was all he said for a minute.

"It's getting dark, and that's the perfect cover for a stealth intel operation." Keith suggested.

Logan gave a cocky and almost daring looking smile.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Logan said.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Keith said, and he began to walk for the path leading back down the mountain.

"Wow wow, hold up kiddo!" Logan said quickly, stopping Keith. "I meant, what I was thinking for me to do that, not really you and me. As a member of the Blade of Mamora, it's my mission and not your burden to bear as my son."

"Your right," Keith said, "but as a member of the Blades myself, it's also my mission too."

Logan looked at Keith and at first his eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, but then as he put it all together he gave an excited smile, figuring it out.

"What?!" He asked in an excited tone. "No way! But wait, why are you here, were you already sent here on a mission?"

Keith chuckled and he shrugged a bit.

"Well, it was more of my own mission really. I just started remembering stuff after being in a healing pod and-"

"Healing pod? What for?" Logan interrupted, slightly concerned.

"Just a little injury." Keith said modestly. "Nothing to worry about. So anyway, I just kept remembering things and one thing led to another and so now here we are!"

That was quite the simplified version, but it got straight to the point at least.

Logan's gaze had glanced down at the braces supporting Keith's legs for a moment, but seeing that his son looked to be fine despite those he just shrugged and chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad you're here kid." He said, ruffling Keith's hair. "If you're ready, we should head down the mountain. I know where the old barricade is and we'll need to move quick if we're gonna get there in time to see what's happening."

Keith nodded, then looked down to the braces on his legs. He felt that his legs had really strengthened up since he left, so he didn't see the harm in taking them off. He bent down and undid the straps that held them on, and was soon standing completely on his own two legs. It felt good in a lot of ways. Remembering his outfit, Keith realized he wasn't dressed in his Mamora gear, but he didn't have anything else to change into, so it would have to do. But his eyes did wonder to his bright red jacket. His dark shirt and pants would at least blend into the darkness, but a bright red and white jacket wouldn't. His boots wouldn't matter all that much he didn't think, and they were the only shoes he had. He sighed, then began to take off his jacket.

"Can I leave this in the cabin?" He asked Logan.

"We may not be able to come back for it for a while," Logan cautioned, "won't you want it?"

Keith eyed the jacket in his hands in second guessing. It was special to him, but it was just a jacket as much as he hated to admit it.

"Yeah," Keith finally said, looking back up at his father, "it's not really much for camouflage. I'll come back for it when I can."

Logan nodded.

"Alright then, go ahead and leave it inside. The bright color will probably brighten up the dry colors anyway." He said with a smile. "Oh, and actually, I think I have some extra Blade garb in there if you wanna put that on instead. I haven't worn it in a while cuz I've grown out of it, but, I guess I always kept it to see if you'd fit in it someday."

"Great, where is it?" Keith asked, actually excited to be wearing the Blade garb since by now it had felt like his second skin.

"I'll show you." Logan said, and with that he walked to the cabine and inside.

After Logan rummaged around in a few things, he soon brought out the Mamora garb, still folded and covered with a little dust. He gave it a good shake, the dust bunnies flying off and looked to his son questioningly.

"Want it?" he asked with a shrug.

Keith gave a shrug as well.

"Better than what I have now. Mine as well try it on at least." he said.

After a minute, Keith was soon in the uniform. It fit pretty well to both his and Logan's surprise, and Keith left his jacket and the rest of his clothes in the small cabine along with Pidge's thoughtful creation. He'd come back for all of it when the mission was finished.

The descent down the mountain path wasn't quite as nice as it had been coming up. The sun was nearly down, the cold air was settling in and shadows grew larger and darker. Keith and Logan had to take great care of their steps in order not to fall or stumble. By the time they reached the bottom, the moon was already cresting the treetops, but was hidden from Keith's view among the trunks of the trees. They were making good time as speed (mining quintessence isn't as easy as squeezing water out of a sponge), but they ran swiftly through the forest to get to the quintessence pockets as soon as possible. Logan led the way, Keith at his side. The cold of Keith's sweat made him shiver just slightly, but he was in no real danger in a small shiver.

"I'm afraid we can't stop." Logan said through his helmet, his own breath beginning to rasp like Keith's as they rushed along. "If it's anything like last time they'll take what they want and then leave. If we cut through the refugee town it'll make up for time we don't have."

Keith heard a strange tone in his father's voice when he mentioned the town, as if dreading it. Keith had a feeling the past had something to do with that but remained silent. They hurried in shared silences for a long while. When finally they came to the town, Logan's steps didn't slow, but rather quickened, and Keith nearly struggled to stay by his side.

"Nearly there." Logan told him as they were halfway through the town now. "The barrier isn't far from here."

Keith kept by his father's side, running together through countless streets in ruins until Keith suddenly realized his father wasn't with him anymore. He slowed quickly to a stop, breathing heavily and his lungs thanking him for the short rest as he looked back. Logan stood, his body facing the direction they had been running, but his head turned to a certain large building. Keith jogged back to his father and seeing how even when he came to his side Logan didn't move, Keith looked at him curiously.

"Uh, Dad?" Keith asked. "You alright?"

Logan stared at the ruins of the building, silent for a long time.

"Yeah…" he finally said, his focus distant from the present. "It's just… memories."

He didn't move. Keith's eyes wandered to the building. It's frame, old and barely standing on its own, was charred and black in a few places, the results of fire.

"What was this?" Keith asked, his voice quiet in the even more quiet night air.

Logan breathed in deeply and sighed.

"This used to be the old Mamora base…" he said, his voice deep and quiet. "And, it's where I last saw your mother."

Keith's gaze lowered at hearing this, the atmosphere around them and the building suddenly turning to a different kind of cold and dark than the night around them. Like a cold and dark veil of loss, which draped heavily over them and this place.

"You said the quintessence was only a part of the reason why the Galra came here." Keith said, and looked at his father questioningly. "What was the other part?"

Logan stared silently for a while, then sighed.

"We need to keep moving, we don't have much time." He decided, rather coldly, and he turned his head and abruptly began to walk away.

Keith saw his father's response and knew something wasn't right.

"Does it have something to do with Mom?" Keith asked from where he stood.

Logan's strides slowed to a stop, and the man stood quiet a moment, sighing again. He then slowly look back at Keith, turning his body a little to do so. Keith saw the helmet fade away and the hood was pulled back with eyes that revealed a heartache so deep Keith barely recognized them as his father's.

"Yeah," Logan said quietly, "it does."

He then nodded his head for Keith to follow, and as Keith walked to his father's side they walked on together. Logan's hair drifted in the wind a bit as a cold breeze blew through the street.

"It's, a long story, and you'll probably have a few questions, but what I'm going to tell you concerns me, your mother, and you." Logan said, glancing a dark eye at his son.

Keith listened with all his focus and attention as his father began to speak.

"A long time ago, before you were born, I was a simple scout, sent out solo on missions for the Blade of Mamora to gather intel. I was investigating a strange signal out in the middle of nowhere when I stumbled upon a Galran escape pod. It had been drifting in space for a few vargas, and the signal I was tracking was coming from inside: not the pod itself. When I managed to get inside, it was a person, a prisoner. She was unconscious and wounded, so I took her back to the base and had her examined. She was, to be honest, unlike any alien or beautiful creature I had ever seen. While examining her, we discovered an odd Galran based device implanted in her head. It was well protected. Any attempts to hack in were rejected or caused her pain. We could only wait for her wake up to see who she was, and what it was. Many of the Blades already didn't trust her, and said I should have left her, but I knew leaving her would not only be wrong, but then we would know nothing about her.'

"It was two quintents later that she finally awoke. Long story short, form what she could remember, she had indeed been a prisoner of the Galra, and the device in her head was an implant designed to upgrade her brain in some ways, making it a computerlike system. Within it she held secrets and data about Galran plans, battlecruisers, new weapon ideas, locations of bases: a lot of stuff the Galra didn't want us to know. The only problem was, the inplant was so closely glued to her brain, that when she had escaped, they had triggered a self destruct kind of mechanism which nearly killed her. It must have failed though, because all it really did was damager her memory and some files and data were lost while others were already unaccessible to her. Once she knew who we were, she was happy to help us in any way she could, and so she stayed with us and we took her to a safe refugee camp on Forelongs. I was stationed there and it had seemed the most boring place in the galaxy until she was there. She was smart, sweet and had a great sense of humor, and she wanted to help people who weren't even her own. Her past was really kinda messed up and she couldn't remember it very well. Despite her clouded past, she was surprisingly open and much more friendly than anyone I had ever met among the Blades. I grew fond of her rather quickly, and since I was assigned to keep a close eye on her we rarely were far apart. Despite the Blade of Mamora's caution, my heart fell to her faster than a rock falling through water. Soon enough, we were together, as a man and his bride: and soon after that, you came into our lives."

Logan looked at Keith with soft eyes and a smile, and Keith smiled a little in response. But then Logan's soft eyes turned dark and to ones of hurt as he continued.

"The Galra searched for her, you're mother, but somehow she had managed to hide her location, but she always had nightmares that someday they would find her. She was afraid of the computer inside her head, and she often showed signs of PTSD. But despite that, she was the best wife and mother, and she never lost grip of her colorful personality. She kept on doing what she could to help the Mamora out, and whenever she remembered something she told us right away. The day all of this happened," Logan gestured to the ruins around them, "was the day she remembered something big. Her past. And in remembering that, it must have unlocked some of the Galran secrets she had so long been denied access, and in doing that, the input set off a tracker location which connected right to the closest Gulran fleet, informing them she had broken into secrets they didn't want her knowing…."

Logan walked down the halls of the main intel base, located within the center of town. He had just dropped Keith off with some friends so himself and Eliza could attend the Blade of Mamora meeting. They're scouts had just reported that the Galra had found a way to track the Lions of Voltron at a close range, and they had to figure out how to get to the lions before they did. When Logan finally entered the room, several other Blade members were already there, but he was looking for someone in particular. Eliza stood at the far end of the room from where he stood, not far from the base leader, Kon. Logan worked his way through the room to get to her side, and she greeted him with her warm smile when he stood beside her. Her hand held his a moment, their fingers interlinking, and he gave her hand a loving and tender squeeze, happy to see her. Soon the meeting began, and all eyes turned to leader Kon.

"It was only weeks ago that we discovered the Galra Empire has found a way to track the legendary lions of Voltron. Unfortunately, they have already found the Red lion, one of five, and if they find all of them, the Empire will be unstoppable. Emperor Zarkon has sent countless scouts off to try and find the rest of the lions, and they cannot be allowed to find them. This is why we will be sending at least one Blade member into as many of those scouts as possible. The scouts have already been in many parts of the universe, and they're slowly working their way through this system and into systems the Galra have yet to conquer. Several of these systems are filled with relatively peaceful planets such as Monray, Vanuhiem, Earth, and-"

"Earth?!" Eliza suddenly said, accidently loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"Yes," Kon said, eyeing her in slight confusion, "Earth. Anyway, the plan is too…."

By this point, Logan's attention was now elsewhere. Eliza was looking different, confused and her mind in several places. He glanced at her several times, until his glance from Kon to her was more like from her to Kon. She looked like she was trying hard to remember something. Concerned, Logan gently took her arm and pulled her aside and down the hall so they could speak without interrupting the meeting.

"You alright?" Logan asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

"I'm, not sure." Eliza said, looking down in thought. "I feel like I've heard that place before."

"What? Earth?" Logan asked.

"Yes. Its as if it were something from a dream..."

As Eliza tried hard to remember, the input denied her access, suddenly sending a mild shock of pain through her head (the worst kind of headache). She grimace briefly, pulling back, but she knew there was something there, and so she pushed further. Logan could see it was hurting her.

"Hey careful, you don't want to hurt yourself." Logan said, a hand coming to her shoulder as if to try and absorb her pain.

"Something tells me not knowing will be just as terrible." Eliza responded, determined. "I have to know."

Eliza shut her eyes tight and cringed at the pain the input was giving her, and she cringed so much that Logan's support was the only thing that now held her up. Her hands instinctively came to her head, and she grunted as she tried to push through the input's defenses.

"Izy, stop." Logan now demanded, holding her up. "Your hurting yourself. Please, just listen to me."

"I can't." Eliza managed to say through her pain, her ears beginning to ring. "I'm close. I can break through. I have to know! Its something important, Logan!"

"It can't be more so than you!"

Eliza ignored his words, the ringing in her ears making it a little easier. She was too close now. The pain was terrible. It was a battle of will against technology. It was like a wall stood before her, and she was banging her fists to it, and with each couple of hits, the wall cracked and she could see just a sliver of what lay beyond (the worst kind of having something on the tip of someone's tongue). She hit again, and again, now on her knees with Logan supporting her and keeping her from falling completely on her side. She couldn't hear him, the ringing in her ears was all she heard. She couldn't feel his touch, the pain was numbing all of her senses. A few more hits and she'd be through. One more hit. The wall cracked. Two more hits. It cracked further. Four more hits. The wall was nearly spent, like her strength. One final blow and….

The wall shattered like bits of glass. She stumbled through. The world behind the wall was foggy and gray. It felt like a dream as Eliza stood there, her feet beginning to be hidden as the dense, shin high fog began to drift towards her. It was all very quiet, and she stood alone for a minute. It was almost an eerie kind of silence. An unsure and grim silence. The world itself was grim, with no happy or bright colors. Only shades of black from darkest to lightest gray. Suddenly, Eliza heard something, and one would think she'd hear it better with all the silence, but it was very faded and far away it seemed. She waited very quietly to see if she heard it again, and she did, a little louder this time. There was silence for a few seconds longer until she heard it again; and it sounded like the cry of a child. Instantly, motherly instincts being the influence, Eliza began to walk forward. The fog engulfed her feet as she looked around the dim, unfamiliar, dreamy world. The cry was getting ever so slightly louder with every step she took, and the mother's instinct was compelling her to keep going as well as a sense of curiosity. As she heard the cry slowly growing louder, she recognized it as not just the cry of a child, but of a baby. At realizing the cry was from a helpless infant, Eliza's walk became a jog, and then soon a racing dash as she ran to the cry. She could feel a kind of whispering sensation that was telling her she was racing to someone she had once known. Had once loved. It wasn't something she could explain. It was just, instinct.

A light appeared ahead, and it steadily grew more and more bright as she drew closer. Soon she realized the light wasn't getting brighter, but the world around her was actually getting darker as she was soon running down a dark hallway, the fog rising up around her (but not in front of or behind her): solidifying and becoming hard walls, tile floor and roof. Eliza ran for the light at the end of the hall, and soon she saw it was a bright light peeking through the gap between the floor and a closed door. But the cry was so close, she couldn't let that closed door stop her. She ran hard and bashed the door with all her strength. It flew open at the force of her blow and blinded her eyes with the morning sun's bright rays. When her eyes adjusted, the very air was filled with the eminence of a dreamy memory. As her eyes adjusted to the light, blinding it was there for a second, she now recognized this place as a hospital room (though while it wasn't like the ones she had seen in space outposts, it was so much more familiar). She then somehow knew, that she wasn't really a person in a room, but a ghost in a lost memory. It wasn't real, but she was sure that once, it had been.

The morning sun flooded in through the open window, letting the fresh, February air come in as the world began to awaken. Eliza remembered the events of long ago as she saw herself sitting in a hospital bed, and suddenly her very being slipped into that moment, seeing it all again for the second time. Eliza had been gazing out at the sunrise for many moments, watching the city begin to come alive, until a little someone fidgeted in her arms. Her dark eyes looked down and were met by the sleepy expression of her newborn son, his eyes just barely opening against the bright sun. She smiled at him.

 _"Hi little one."_ she had said in a gentle whisper as he yawned, wrapped up in a warm blanket. _"Good morning, and welcome to the world. You and me, we're kind of alone in it, but, we'll always have each other. I promise you."_

She had then began to gently rock him side to side as she hummed a peaceful tune, soon beginning to sing quietly to him.

 _"You and me, together we'll always be._

 _Through every high and stormy sea, we'll weather it all, just you and me._

 _Mountains may rise and valleys may fall, but I'll be here with you through it all._

 _You and me._

 _Just, you and me…….. little Takashi."_

Eliza's eyes flashed open in remembrance. Her eyes met Logan's, which were deep with concern as he held her.

"I remember now…" Eliza said, her voice soft and quiet. "I remember who's back on Earth."

"What? Who?" Logan asked, now very much interested, and part of him dreading it was another guy.

"It's a long story," Eliza said, "but I have to get to him. He's all alone, without his mother."

Logan's eyes narrowed in confusion, his brow furrowing in the same emotion, trying to work it all out and process it. He was silent to Eliza's dread for a few seconds, until finally he nodded, confident and loyal.

"Okay." he said, then after a moment, he just had to ask a question. "Who's the father?"

Eliza could tell Logan was a little awkward asking this, but she just smiled softly at him.

"Someone who was once a lot like you, but then he was taken from me. My first son and I, were alone. And now, he's been alone all these years back on Earth. But maybe, if I return to Earth and bring him here, maybe we can be a family. All four of us. Together." Eliza said hopefully. "And if, maybe, it turns out he hates me after all this time or has moved on…. I at least have to make sure he's okay."

Logan's expression showed his empathy, and he gave her a soft smile.

"Well, I'd love to meet him if he decides to come." he said.

Eliza looked up at him and her eyes softened.

"Thank you, Logan." She said gratefully and touched. "Your taking this incredibly well." She then added, partly surprised.

Logan gave a shrug.

"I trust you." he said sincerely. "That's really the only explanation I have for not freaking out at the moment."

Eliza laughed, throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged her back with a warm embrace.

"I would prefer to leave as soon as possible. Maybe even today." Eliza said after she had stepped back.

"Today?!" Logan asked, surprised.

"It'll take some time getting to Earth's system from where we are, we call our system the Milky Way, us humans."

Logan snorted a chuckle.

"That's a weird name for a solar system, ain't it?" he said with a smile.

Eliza chuckled.

"When you've heard the names of other solar systems which sound all cool and great, then yes, it is." She said jestingly.

The two shared a light chuckle, but then they both stopped at the same time, hearing something and suddenly feeling a low rumbling. Logan and Eliza looked around and then at each other for a moment, then Logan led the way back to the control room. They entered to see what was happening just as the control panel in the center of the room flashed red and showed enemy Galra cruizers entering the atmosphere.

"What's going on?!" Logan asked Kon as he came to his side.

"Looks like a few Galra cruizers are headed for the quintessences baracaid." Kon responded.

"How could they know of it?!" Eliza asked.

"It could be spiking again," Logan said, "they could have caught on to its energy signature or something, if they were close enough."

"Wait," Eliza said, looking at the fleet closely as a cruizer began to peel off from the group and head their way, "could they have found the town?"

"How?" Logan asked. "It's guarded by signal blocking interference."

Just as he said that, the cruizer headed their way sent a hailing. Kon's eyes narrowed suspicious and he answered. A Galran general appeared on the screen, and Eliza gasped at seeing him.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me." the general said in a low, menacing tone, "hand her over and I'll spare your little rebel village.If you fail to have made a decision or refuse to give her up, I will collect her by force. I'll give you ten dobashes to think about it."

Before Kon could respond, the general disconnected. Eliza stepped back, fear in her eyes.

"Zethrane... he found me?" She breathed, her terror easily detectable in her voice.

"He won't find you," Logan said protectively, "not if I have something to say about it."

"Logan," Eliza said, "he will. Unlocking those memories in my head must have somehow sent out a signal to any nearby Galra computer that I had broken through the input's defenses. He'll be able to track me for miles."

"There has to be a way! We just need to think." Logan reasoned, remaining silent to try and see what he could come up with if anything at all.

The room was very quite, and Kon's expression was one of deep thought. Eliza looked around at the faces of those around her. Logan's expression was firm, and she knew he wasn't going to let the enemy take her, but Kon? Kon was a leader. He had to make difficult decisions for the greater good, and giving her up to the enemy was going to have to be one of them. Eliza didn't at all want to leave Logan and Keith. She wanted to stay with them. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with her beloved, and watch Keith grow up into a man. She didn't want the rest of her days to be spent locked up in Galran captivity, used as their slave and tool. But if she stayed in the town, surely the Galra would just destroy everything and come after her all the same...unless... she led them away. Eliza's at first fearful expression turned to a firm and determined one as she decided for herself what would happen to her. She looked at Kon.

"I know what I need to do." she told him.

"We're not giving you up to the Galra." Logan said firmly.

"Of course not," Eliza said, "I'm leaving to lead them away."

Logan looked at her a moment, knowing it was a better option in some ways than the other two.

"Then I'm coming with you." he told her.

"And who will take care of Keith?" Eliza asked.

"We can take him with us." Logan said. "As long as we're together we'll be fine."

"No Logan," Eliza said, stepping away from him, "we can't be together this time. I have to go alone. Coming with me would only put you and our son in danger."

"Then we stay here and we fight." Logan said, running out of options that he liked.

"If fighting is going to be our response," Kon said, "then we must fight to keep the Galra from getting to that quintessence area. If they get a hold of it, who knows what they'll do."

"And what of this town and the people?" Logan asked him, a fiery tone in his voice. "We can't just leave them behind!"

"They can be taken onto ships and evacuated." Kon replied coolly. "Our mission is to protect the quintessence for as long as we can."

"I know what the mission is." Logan nearly spat, coldly.

Turning from Kon, he came to face Eliza, stepping closer to amend the distance between them as he gently took her hand in his.

"We'll figure something out Izy." he told her. "You don't have to run."

Eliza smiled warmly up at him.

"Yes Logan," she told him, "I do. If you give me up, they will destroy the town anyway. If you keep me it's the same result. But if I run away, it will take their fire off the town in pursuit of me, and then you'll be at least a little more safe. You and Keith. I've already done the math, this is the only option we have that may have a good outcome."

Logan looked at her a while. Her eyes were wet as his were growing to be, but she looked up at him with a comforting smile. Kon left the two of them alone as he began to order information on the enemy's status.

"Its alright," Eliza told Logan softly, "you can let me go. I'll be okay. Take Keith and get him somewhere safe. This won't be goodbye, its just see you later. You know?"

Logan sighed, turning his head away a little, refusing to let her words convince him. Eliza reached up and gently turned his head to gaze back to her.

"Let me go, Logan." She told him gently, clearing a tear from his cheek. "It's the only way."

Logan merely looked at her, then slowly bowed his head, not wanting to give in, but deep down he knew she was right. As he bowed his head, Eliza reached up and put her arms around his neck, and he in turned pulled her close. The situation around them faded, he and her the only ones there, locked in a painful moment.

"Take care of our son." Eliza told him, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye as she still clutched to him.

"I will." Logan said, his voice muffled in her neck and shoulder. "Stay safe, you hear?"

Eliza smiled.

"I will, I promise you." she said.

They stood like that a moment, then slowly drew back just enough to still be in each other's embrace and look at the other's face. They leaned forward to share a kiss of what felt like a goodbye, the moment slowing, but they were interrupted when there was a violent quaking of the ground beneath their feet as what was probably an attack from the Galra hit near the base.

"We're under attack!" A Blade said. "What are your orders sir?"

"We need to keep the Galra from getting to that quintessence," Kon replied without a moment's hesitation, "but most important of all, we need to keep them from finding out that we know of their ability to track Voltron and our plan to intervene. We have to destroy all evidence and information in our database before they get here. We also need to evacuate the town, so we'll split up. I want at least ten Blades on the streets doing what they can to evacuate. With the help of some townspeople leaders will hopefully be able to get everyone to safety. I want a small group of three Blades here, erasing all evidence and info we have in this base. As those groups do their jobs here, I want every Blade and soldier on the front lines and barriers of the quintessence field. Are there any questions?"

"Shouldn't we send what information we have to any other nearby Blade bases?" A warrior asked.

"Too risky." Kon replied. "If we contact any of our allies the Galra could intercept our transmissions and find them. We may be on our own here, so we cannot lose. Am I clear?"

Everyone nodded to their leader.

"Good. Now, get out there and make hast. All odds could be very well against us and we haven't time to lose." Kon said. "Those who plan to defend the barricade on me. The rest of you, be swift and stay safe."

With that, Kon turned his back to them and everyone departed.

"Where are you headed?" Eliza asked Logan.

"I'm gonna find Keith and get him out of here." Logan told her.

"You're leaving with him then?" Eliza asked.

"I…" Logan looked torn between two sides. "I want to, but I might have to stay here and help defend the barricade."

"Logan, you could be outnumbered even beside the other Blades, and Keith will be alone."

"I'd rather him be alone then dead. I'll make sure he's in good hands, I promise you."

He took her hand and held it tight and tenderly, and she nodded to him, her eyes deep.

"I'll see you again." Eliza said, partly telling herself as well as him.

Logan smiled at her.

"Yes you will." He replied.

He gave her hand a swift kiss goodbye (like he had done so many times before they had been married and were but only lovers), then, slowly and painfully, their hands slipped apart as they both went in opposite directions. Logan couldn't look away from her eyes for the longest time. He had the terrible feeling he wouldn't ever see her again. He shook the feeling off though and forced himself to turn his back, as did she. He had to find their son and get him somewhere safe, whatever it took.

"Then the next thing I know," Logan said, his tale nearly finished, "the base is getting hit by Galra troops. They surrounded the base and came in on all sides. I was lucky to get out unharmed. After that… I never saw your mother again…."

Keith silently stared at his father, secrets kept by the past finally revealed. They had stopped walking for a bit and now stood side by side. Logan's eyes were cast downward, the pain of long ago still deep and hurtful.

"Do you think she could still be alive?" Keith asked.

Logan's eyes remained downward and he shook his head.

"If I let myself believe I might ever see her again... that maybe she's still out there somewhere after all this time and not knowing... it would have killed me. The hole universe and the underworld itself could be separating us. I'll probably have to die before seeing her again…." Logan answered sorrowfully.

Keith's gazed lowered for a minute.

"Dad," He finally spoke, "I know you really want to see Mom again, but… please, don't die just yet."

Logan looked at his son and gave a smile as Keith met his dark eyes. Logan brought an arm around his son's shoulders.

"I'm not planning on dying yet kiddo." He said. "I still have a few more years left in me. I wanna see how tall you get before you stop growing."

They shared a chuckle.

"So," Keith said, realizing something important, "I guess I have a brother or something back on Earth, right?"

"Yeah." Logan answered. "How do you feel about that?"

Keith waiter a minute to gather it all up.

"I just wish I had met him before I left." Keith said with a shrug, feeling a little guilty. "I hope he's doing alright, wherever he is."

"Me too kid." Logan said. "Maybe someday you'll get back to Earth and look him up. Anything can happen."

Keith wondered about that a minute. From what he knew, his brother (technically his half brother) lived somewhere on Earth, but there was no name to look up. Keith wanted to ask his father if he knew his mother's last name, but then decided against it. They were after all on a mission, not really a father to son talk as much as Keith wanted to talk more. They'd have plenty of time after the mission.

"We'd better hurry if we wanna get to that cruiser." Keith admitted.

"Yeah, good point." Logan agreed. "As long as you're up for it."

"Right behind you Dad." Keith said with a kind of smirk.

"Alright, let's do this then." Logan said, ruffling Keith's hair a bit before his mask formed over his face.

Keith did the same for his mask and followed Logan as the man began to break into a run, leading the way to their destination.

A few minutes later, the two were observing from the safety of the shadows the operation the Gulra were performing. The barricade that had once protected the field of quintessence had been much like the Castle of Lions' particle barrier, but of course Altean technology was a good deal more efficient in many ways. But right now, all Keith saw was a large dome.

"There was a total of three barriers." Logan quickly explained. "The first was the particle barrier, then second, the metal dome that encircled the area, and then the third was the Blades. We had a lot stationed here, and a lot of them fell trying to defend the field. I still don't know why or how I survived, but I'm glad I did."

As Keith looked at the old metal dome, he saw a huge blast hole in the front, big enough for large drills and equipment to get in and out, and from what they saw, the Galra were heading back to the cruizer, which had landed a good distance away.

"How are we gonna get on that cruizer? Maybe we can hitch a ride on one of those big drills?" Keith asked.

"That wouldn't work," Logan said, shaking his head, "they have sentries all around them to help the driver get around. Even if we did somehow get close enough we'd be seen eventually. But, those should work pretty well."

Logan pointed to a long line of hover ground vehicles headed for the loading ramp.

"That's our way in." Logan said. "We'll take the last one and ride in. By the time we get down there the last one should be pretty close. Let's go."

The two dashed forward, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Once they got there, Logan was correct in that they didn't have to wait for the final vehicle for long. Right after it passed, Logan (who was closest) dashed for the back of it, a tarp over the doorway hiding what was inside from view, and once he got close he pulled himself up and in quickly. Keith was right behind him and landed inside next to his father, but Logan was staring at what was with them inside the back of the vehicle. A total of four sentries, two sitting on the side benches, stared at them, computing the intruders. True that neither Keith or Logan had expected this and froze at seeing the sentries, but it wasn't too surprising that they'd be here.

"Fellas." Logan said from behind his mask, reaching a hand behind his back slowly to grasp his weapon, Keith silently doing the same as he gave a small wave.

The overall camotion which soon arose within the back of the vehicle was nothing to anyone outside but the muffled sounds of metal being bashed about and the vehicle probably rocked just a little from the movement inside, but no one was around to hear, so Keith and Logan were able to remain hidden all the way up until the vehicle was inside the cruizer. Logan parted the dark colored tarp to see if anyone was around, then stuck his head out furthermore to ensure no inspectors were coming around the corner where they would see them. Seeing it was clear, he ushered Keith to follow as he lightly hopped out of the back of the vehicle. They quickly hid behind some nearby crates and took bearing of their surroundings.

"Well," Logan commented, "looks like they got all the quintessence they could get."

He gestured towards the large bottles of quintessence being carefully loaded into boxes and crates for more safe shipment.

"There's got to be at least twenty truck loads of those." Keith said. "Do they even know what to do with it all?"

"Good question, we need to get some intel on what plans they have for this, or at least whatever we can. I brought a computer drive with me, so if we can get to the main computer in the heart of the ship, we can get some intel and get out." Logan said.

"But this is too much quintessence for us to just let the Galra take and use." Keith protested. "Haggar could even use this stuff for who knows what purposes, and it could really hurt the rebellion. We need to do something to get it out of their hands."

"I like the idea, but how do you suggest we do it?"

"Well," Keith thought for a minute, "what if we somehow rigged the cruizer to explode?"

Logan thought for a minute.

"Well, this much quintessences aboard would fuel the explosion to at least three times the normal blast radius, and the quintessence could all be spent after fueling such a huge reaction, making nothing retrievable for anyone. It could work, but we'd have to be really, really, really… really far away." He said, exaggerating the finally 'really'. "And I think I can rewire the ship's self destruct and give us enough time to escape without alerting anyone, but we'd have to hightail it to the escape pods as soon as we set the timer."

"Okay," Keith said, knowing they could work with that, "so we sneak into the heart of the ship to the main computer, grab all the info we can, then you rewire the ship to self destruct, we get to the pods, escape and leave the ship to explode."

"That's a very simplified version of a very complex operation..." Logan said seriously, "...I love it. Let's do it!"

With that, the two began to sneak out of the loading bay, blades drawn and with Logan leading the way. They picked their way very slowly it seemed through the ship, taking great care to not be seen or heard. The ship was soon up and in the sky, entering into space. Every corner was checked and caution was dealt with ever sound other than their own, but they moved as quick and safe as they could. It felt like a very long time had passed, when really it was about forty-eight minutes, before they were finally at the door of the main computer (Logan seemed to know these cruizers very well and so that's how they got to it without a map of the ship). Logan put his hand to the scanning pad to the side of the door. It scanned his Galran hand, then with a beep it opened, letting them inside. There were two sentries in there to help operate, but they were easy to neutralize and soon Logan was putting in the drive and downloading all he could fit onto it that was of use. He skimmed through filles, picking and choosing which ones were important enough to keep. He didn't have the time or patients to erase any of the ones he copied and saved off the computer .

"Alright," he said when he pocketed the full drive, "now for the big boom."

He began tapping away at the keyboard, and Keith had a feeling he hadn't inherited his father's skills with a computer. He couldn't wait to get off this ship. They were on their own without any backup, and that was quite dangerous.

"Done. Let's go." Logan said, and that was music to Keith's ears.

They dashed out of the room, now more relying on speed than anything else. Logan grabbed Keith and pulled him to a stop right before Keith ran out from behind the corner. If Logan hadn't caught him, Keith would have run right in front of someone coming down the hall. They both ducked in a kneel, ready to attack if the footsteps came their way. A galra looking to be a general appeared into their view. The galra walked with long strides down the hall, soon coming out into the intersection of halls and turning away from them to enter the one across from them. Suddenly a galra soldier came from where the general had just come from and came to his side, probably to report. Logan ushered Keith to go left (where the two gulra had just come from), and as Keith did he followed. They weren't far though when the conversation of the two gulra stopped Logan in mid stride.

"General Zethrane," the soldier said, "we've just picked up an alert of project 1A5 activity."

Keith noticed Logan had stopped and so stopped also, looking back questioningly, but Logan was busy listening to the conversation.

"Where?" the general, General Zethrane, asked, his voice cool and controlled.

"A planet near us called Corsant." the soldier replied. "On the move now."

"Set a course to intercept." the general ordered. "And send out a call to any nearby fleets to meet us at the intersection point."

"Do we really need all that personel?"

"She's escaped from my grasp twice, and there will not be a third."

With that the soldier departed, and Keith could hear his footsteps coming around the corner. Logan wasn't moving though, seeming oblivious. Keith wanted to panic but managed to keep his head enough to grab his father's arm and pull him in as quiet of a run as he could to round the corner. He was dragging Logan for a second before Logan caught his feet (and wits it seemed) and was soon running with Keith. Once they turned a few corners and knew they were out of sight for now, Keith let his mask fade as he looked at his father.

"What was that all about? What's project 1A5?" Keith asked him.

Logan let his mask fade as well, revealing an expression Keith was taken back by.

"1A5…" Logan said, his voice quiet, "...was the code name they gave your mother while she was under their operation…."

Keith gasped, feeling his own breath catch in his chest.

"So that means… Mom's…." He trailed off.

"...alive…." Logan finished for him, his voice showing how he was processing it all as well.

Keith couldn't believe it. His mother, was alive. After all this time. Why now? Why was she on Corsant? He had just been on Corsant! Why hadn't he somehow seen her?! Had Mordon lied about not seeing her? What was going on?!

 _"Attention all personnel,"_ rang out a voice on the cruiser's speakers, _"preparations for space jump are now commencing. Secure all facilities and prep for battle. Jump will commence in twenty ticks."_

Keith suddenly realized that the cruizer was preparing to no doubt capture his mother, and not only that, but the ship was rigged to explode. Keith looked at his father with dread. Logan had just come to the same conclusion.

"How long did you set the ship to self destruct?" Keith asked.

"Thirty doboshes." Logan replied, horror in his tone.

They heard the cruizer begin to make alerts as it prepared to jump, and in combined urgence Keith and Logan raced back to the main computer to shut off the self destruct.

Logan came to the computer and began to undo what he had programed. By the time the cruizer jumped, he had succeeded. They remained in the room, breathing heavy from the intensity of the situation.

"How are we gonna help Mom?" Keith asked.

"I don't know," Logan replied, stressed, "we'll have to figure something out. Fast."

"Maybe we can wait until they get her onboard and then break her out and escape together?"

"That could work, and maybe she can access the ship's self destruct and activate the timer while we escape."

"That could be a big maybe though."

"I know. But for now it's all we got."

They were silent some more, trying to get a hold of, well, anything.

"We're in a tight spot, aren't we?" Keith asked, breathless.

"Yeah. Let's just hope we can squeeze out of it." Logan replied.

The time of the jump was not as long as they expected, and Keith could feel the ship slow it's course suddenly, somewhat like the motion in an elevator when it moves up or down. Logan managed to pull up on the computer screen a visual of the ship's front cameras to see what they were up against. Keith gasped when he saw the huge (small in comparison to the cruizer), mechanical beast among the stars hovering before them.

 _"Alert, I repeat, high alert. Contact with the Black Lion of Voltron is inevitable. Requesting all units for immediate assistance. Fighters, prepare to attack. All ion cannons prepare to fire!"_

Keith gasped as he saw the Black Lion alone in space. Of all the questions that were abounding in his head, they all both escalated and escaped through one word.

"Shiro?!"

 _*note to readers* Aaand there's the cliffy. Sorry XD Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter and please stay tuned for the next one. Chapter ten! The last mellon.The last stand! The last...well.. chapterXD Anyhoo_ _, thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful day and week! Flicout! XD_


	11. Chapter Ten

_*note to readers* Hey everybody! I have dragged this story on for a really long time and kept ya guys hanging constantly, so sorry about that. But hey good news, the final is chapter here! And hey, more good news, this is the week season eight of Voltron comes out!!! XD I'm so excited! This story would totally never happen in the show, but it was a lot of fun to write and I stuck with it to the end, and so did you! XD Alrighty, special shout of thanks to all you followers and favoriters! This chapter is a long one, but I loved writing it and I hope you all like it. Enjoy the last chapter of A Matter Of Family._

Chapter Ten

You Never See It Coming

Before the ambush.

"So," Eliza said after she had wrapped up her story, "I suppose that's it, unless I remember more."

She looked over from where she stood (leaning on the wall beside the Black Lion pilot's seat) to Shiro, who was staring rather blankly into the space in front of him, processing.

"You look, confused." Eliza said, looking at her son closely. "Is there anything I need to re-explain?"

Shiro silently, as well as blankly, shook his head slowly a little, looking like he was still letting it all sink in.

"Any questions?" Eliza asked.

Shiro was still for a moment, then shook his head in the same way he had before.

"Your not mad or unhappy at all, are you?" Eliza asked nervously.

Shiro shook his head again, more sure and not as blank in showing he wasn't at all feeling any negative emotion about the news his mother had just explained to him. He was silent for a little while.

"I guess," He finally said after a moment, a small smile starting on his lips, "nothing really feels different. He's always been like a brother to me, so now that I know he is my brother, nothing really feels different. Just clarity and an interesting fact. I still see him as the same Keith, only now I know he truly is family. I think you explained it well to be honest."

Eliza gave a small sigh of relief.

"I'm glad." she said. "It's such a miraculous thing that you two already know each other, isn't it?"

Shiro gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah." he said. "I guess family always finds each other, somehow."

They were both silent for a minute, until the communicator on Shiro's dashboard suddenly beeped with an incoming transmission. Shiro raised an eyebrow momentarily and then answered. The face of Allura and the rest of team Voltron appeared on the screen.

"Princess Allura?" Shiro asked, surprised.

"Shiro," Allura said, relieved to see his familiar face, "we haven't heard from you in two quintants, is everything alright. Have you found Keith?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." Shiro said, inwardly smacking his forehead at forgetting about his team. "I guess I hadn't really looked at how long I've been gone. We know where Keith is now and we're on our way to him. We should be getting close by now."

"Wait a tick," Lance suddenly said in the background, "we?"

Shiro hadn't realized his mother had cautiously come to his side at hearing the voice of another woman, and (not wanting to intrude) was curiously poking her head into view as she tried to see who was talking. At realizing they now all saw her, she gave them all a polite smile of greeting and a little wave.

"Hello." she said in a warm and friendly voice.

Everyone was silent as they looked from her to Shiro, questions in all their eyes.

"It's a long story." Shiro said after a second, and it really was. "I'll tell you guys all about it once we find-"

"Takashi," Eliza said in a suddenly low voice, "we're about to have company."

Shiro took heed of her warning immediately and looked to where her gaze was falling, up ahead and into space. He gasped when suddenly a dozen Galran ships jumped out of the stars in a near jumpscare.

"Coran, what's happening?" he heard Allura ask on the screen.

"A Galran fleet just showed up!" Shiro said, beating Coran to the response. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can but I'll need backup sooner rather than later!"

"Right," Allura said with a nod, "we're on our way to your location. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Copy that." Shiro replied and with a nod, he disconnected.

The screen disappeared upon him disconnecting, allowing his full attention on the enemy.

"Hang on Mom," Shiro cautioned, "we're gonna need to hold these guys off until my team gets here."

Eliza gripped the back of his seat firmly, looking out at their enemy with focused eyes.

Shiro turned to his combat mindset as fast as if flipping a switch. He felt his right arm begin to have a tingling sensation, feeling his change of mindset and ready to act. His entire body began to heat in readiness for the fight. His eyes narrowed. Watching. Waiting for the enemy to make the first move. They were all silent. Shiro used that silence to connect himself with the Black Lion, ensuring their bond was secure and all ready for battle. He could feel the Lion's quintessent energy tingling in his own skin and blood. Could feel it's eyes in his own. It's decisive mind, identical to his, binding to him and his thoughts like a vine wrapping itself around another to form an even stronger cord. He and the Lion waited for the perfect moment. The moment when they saw a flash of gunfire or movement from one or all of the ships before moving themselves: and soon enough, it happened.

Every one of the ships began sending out fighters. The Black Lion gave a roaring battle cry. It and it's pilot dashed forward into the heat of combat. Eliza held on tight to Shiro's chair, watching his movements so the computer half of her mind could predict what was going to happen and prepare her for it.

Shiro smartly attacked and avoided the enemy, and once the ion cannons got involved, things were becoming hectic quickly. It was when the Black Lion, by luck or some twist of fate, barely missed the shot from an ion cannon that Shiro knew how deep of a hole they were in. He was trying to keep his distance from the cruisers because if he got too close, they could suck him aboard. He was soon realizing though that the cruisers were moving to surround him. He needed his team, and he hoped they'd come soon.

"Wait," Logan said, catching onto something, "the Black Lion of Voltron?! What's it doing here? And who's Shiro by the way?"

"Uh." Keith exclaimed, trying to fight past his shock and stress so he could gather his response. "He's a close friend of mine. I don't know what he's doing here though, or why he's with Mom."

They both watched the camera feed as the Black Lion was dashing around, and Keith not only realized Shiro was alone, but the the Galra were trying to surround him.

"We have to help him!" Keith said.

"I'm all with you on that," Logan agreed, "but how exactly we do that I'm not sure. Any bright ideas kid?"

Keith sighed.

"No," he said, looking back to the screen and watching the Black Lion helplessly, "not really."

"Incoming! Right flank on high!" Eliza said urgently.

Upon hearing her, Shiro turned the Black Lion sharply to confront the fighter charging for them. The Lion caught the fighter in its jaws, bit down hard, then flung the fighter aside and into the nearby Galra cruiser's side. Shiro had to admit that it was nice having someone else in the cockpit with him to point out threats he didn't see. Shiro hurried to avoid fighters, attacking them when necessary but while either attacking or avoiding, he never stopped moving. Shiro flew close to the lead ship in an attempt to avoid an attack for a fleet of fighters, too close for comfort and not at all on purpose. They were like a swarm of bees, the fighters, chasing their victim to try and engulf them, or at least that's how it felt. Shiro veered the lion away from the lead ship (rather hard not to see it as the lead ship), unintentionally bashing into a fighter which was unfortunate enough to get in his path. The lion shook from the impact, causing Eliza and Shiro to grunt a little.

"Wait," Eliza suddenly said, "the signal I was tracking back on Corsant, it just got stronger."

"Does that mean Keith is nearby?"Shiro asked, glancing at his mother in surprise.

"Yes." Eliza said. "Very close actually. The signal spiked when we got close to that ship, which looks to be the leader."

Shiro felt a cold fear chill him.

"Wait," He said, dread in his tone, "could that mean he's a prisoner?"

"No." Eliza said, and Shiro discovered he had been holding his breath when he let it go. "I'm not detecting the signal in the prison area of the ship. Hold on, I'll scan it again to get a better look at where he is. Keep close to the ship, if you would."

"You got it." Shiro said, and with that he veered the Black Lion and kept it close to the lead ship.

"Scanning ship for DNA source traces…." Eliza said in that blank, computer tone. "DNA found. Tracking…." She was quiet a minute. "Location confirmed. On screen."

To the side of Shiro's screen as to not block his view, the location of the signal Eliza was tracking appeared in the little dots. Shiro glanced at it.

"It looks like he's right in the heart of the ship." Shiro said. "What's he doing there?!"

Shiro then took a second look at the location.

"Am I seeing that right? It looks like there's two dots." Shiro said, his attention mildly diverted to avoid enemy fire.

"No," Eliza said, confusion in her tone, "you're right. There are, two, human DNA traces. That is very confusing."

"Maybe he isn't alone." Shiro said with a shrug.

"I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse to be honest." Eliza admitted.

"Can you tell who it is maybe?"

"Not by their DNA, but there are cameras in the room they're in which I can hack. Just a sec."

Sec. Shiro hadn't heard that measurement of time in, well, a long time. Shiro's mind was brought back to the fight (even though it's wondering had been brief) as the ship tried to catch them in its tractor beam. Shiro wheeled out of it's range, suddenly realizing that the Galra were closing the circle. While fighters prevented Shiro from escaping the circle by going up or down, the cruisers kept him from escaping left or right (so to speak since there is really no, up, down, left or right in space). He hadn't even noticed that his mother was talking in that computer voice now as he stopped the lion, looking for a way out of the circle. Each way he went where he saw an opening, fighters or the cruisers would push him back in. Shiro gave a sigh of growing frustration.

"Man," He said under his breath, "we're in a really tight spot."

It was then that Eliza's hand suddenly came to Shiro's shoulder and gripped it in a way that wasn't usual. This caught him off guard, and he risked a glance to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She didn't respond. She only brought up the camera feed she had grabbed from the lead ship, focusing in on the two dotted signals she had been tracking. Shiro glanced at the camera feed. He spotted two Blade of Marmora warriors by their outfits, then identified one of them as Keith after a second look. After a third and even fourth glance, Shiro didn't recognize the other.

"Who's that other guy?" Shiro asked, moving the Black Lion about to confront a fighter, grabbing it in the lion's jaws and flinging it aside.

"That…" Eliza said, and her tone of disbelief caught Shiro off guard. "...is Logan…."

The sound of the enemy fighter crashing and exploding into another reflected Shiro's mind (in many ways) when his mother spoke at just that moment.

"Wait," He said, trying to fight and process at the same moment, "Logan? My step father Logan?"

"Yes." Eliza said, breathless in unbelief.

Shiro blinked.

"Wow." He said. "This is a lot to process."

"I know…." Eliza said, stepping away to lean against the wall so she could focus more strength on letting it all sink in.

The Lion shook as enemy fire rained on it's back. Shiro brought his mind back to the battle.

"So," He said, "we're gonna find a way to get them out of there, right?"

"Yes." Eliza answered with a nod. "How we do that though, I'm not sure." She was silent in thought. "If I could somehow lead them to the hangar bay, could we do a quick pick up?"

"We'd have to wait for my team so they can cover us," Shiro said, "but if you can get them to the hanger, somehow, then maybe it can work. We'll have to be quick though. They could use their tractor beam to suck us in if we aren't quick enough, or trap us by blocking an escape."

"Right." Eliza said. "I'll get to it."

With that, Eliza focused her sight through her prosthetic eye to see Keith and Logan on the camera feed of the ship (kinda like looking through a looking glass). She was mostly unaware of her talking through what she was doing, as she always was, but her words were mostly drowned out by the battle around them. She began by opening the door leading out of the room Keith and Logan were in: and hacking into one of the more or less disabled sentries in the room and reprogramming it.

Logan and Keith jumped nearly out of their skin when the entrance door suddenly opened. They stood ready for the person who opened it to come through, but were confused to see no one standing outside. They both then suddenly heard a kind of crinkling sound, more comparable to a radio signal that is having a bad connection. Keith looked over to the fallen sentry, which seemed to be coming alive again, the purple lighting on its face flickering. Keith wondered how it was still operational, and stood ready to end it once and for all.

"Wait." Logan said, putting a hand out in front of Keith to gain his attention a little more.

Logan drew close to the sentry as it lay slumped against the wall. After just a few flickers, the sentry was back online, but it's lights now flickered to a darker purple color, not the typical Galran color. Dew to the sentry's previous injuries, it had some difficulty standing to its feet, but it never reached for it's weapon laying on the floor. The sentry looked at Logan and Keith, then spoke.

"Logan and Keith," it said, "I have been reprogrammed to lead you to a pick up point. I have calculated the best route to take as well as the fastest. Please follow me without delay."

"Who reprogrammed you?" Logan asked. "State your programmer."

"My program number is, 1-A-5." The sentry stated.

"So that means Mom is here. And she's looking out for us." Keith figured out, a smile growing on his face.

"That's right kid," Logan said, "she somehow found out we were on board. Or maybe she knew all along."

"We must not linger." The sentry urged. "Please follow me to the pick up point."

With that, Logan and Keith followed the sentry out of the room and down the hall. As they ran, it seemed doors were opening and closing to their advantage,opening the way and cutting off the enemy, sometimes literally. There was a point where the heavy steel doors closed right on another sentry as it came their way, cutting it in two halves and leaving it on the floor as they ran past.

"The hangar is probably gonna be one of the most busy parts of the ship." Keith said aloud. "What are we going to do when we get there?"

"If we're on time," Logan guessed, "maybe we won't have to wait for long. And if we do have to wait, we'll have to hold out til our ride gets here. If we do wait, it probably won't be for long. Your mother always hated being late."

Keith had to smile a little at this as he kept on running, following Logan and the sentry, as it ran with a limp down the halls (it's leg had taken a bit of a beating), leading the way to their escape.

"What's the statis?" Shiro asked as he wheeled the Black Lion around in a tight turn, avoiding cannon fire.

"They're headed down to the hanger." Eliza responded, holding on tight to Shiro's chair as they wheeled around. "They'll be there in about three minutes."

"Hopefully my team gets here in two." Shiro said out loud.

Things we're getting increasingly more hostile. Every few seconds the Black Lion was getting hit by something or someone. Luckily, none of the ion cannons had managed to get a hit on their nimble and small target: yet.

"Sir," a Galra soldier said from his place on the bridge of the ship, "we've been trying to get a lock on the Black Lion, but it's been moving too fast for us to do so. What are your orders?"

"We outnumber that mechanical beast a hundred to one," General Zethrane replied. "and once our reinforcements get here, the Black Lion will be as good as ours. In the meantime, continue heavy fire and making things uncomfortable. They will slip up soon enough."

Keith and Logan ran side by side, following the sentry through the halls and doorways. They were making good headway through the ship, and were now nearly at the bay doors. When finally they reached the bay doors and the doors opened, they were met by a room full of activity. Logan instinctively grabbed Keith -and the sentry- and pulled him to cover so they wouldn't be seen. Keith crouched next to his father, noticing that the sentry was silent, the lighting on its face blinking as it seemed to be doing something. Keith's mind was drawn off it though when he heard some soldiers coming their way from the bay doors they themselves had just come through; and they were in plain sight to be seen by them.

Eliza's eyes twitched and blinked a little, her right eye flashing a little from behind the lense, receiving a signal.

"They're in the hanger." She told her son.

Shiro at that moment dodged the lion hard to the left, avoiding a cannon blast and grunting as he was fighting against the pulling force: Eliza struggling to hold onto his chair. They both shared a grunt and the look on their face, which would have seemed a little funny in the likeness between them, to someone who might have seen them. Shiro then more or less leveled the lion, still avoiding close attacks as best he could.

"What was that?" He asked, stretched rather thin between the action outside and what his mother was saying.

"They're in the-" Eliza tried to repeat her information when the Lion was hit by some enemy fire, shaking it violently and cutting her off.

"What?!" Shiro asked in nearly a shout, frustrated by the constant attacks.

"THEY'RE IN THE HANGER!" Eliza shouted quickly so he could hear her overall the battle noise without being interrupted again, also annoyed by the enemy.

Shiro sighed. How long had it been? Two minutes? Three? Everything was so blurred together and he was stretched so thin, at least it felt like it. He glanced at the lead ship, looming over them, waiting for him to come close so it could attack (that's how it felt at least). He needed a way to get to it and pick up Logan and Keith. It was the glance that ended it. Eliza warned, but her words were too late. The Lion was stopped in high speed, jerking Eliza and Shiro inside as if a strong cord attaching them to something from behind lost all slack and stopped them in their tracks. Shiro looked back ahead and gasped. They were in the ray of a tractor beam, the purple glow falling over them like an unwanted sun.

"No no no no!" Shiro exclaimed, trying to pull the lion out of the beam, but they were caught like a fish on a hook.

He could feel the fear welding up inside him, the desperate fight to break free overwhelming. He pushed the lion all around, but they continued to drift up, closer and closer to doom.

"Come on!" Shiro exclaimed, mostly to his lion. "You can do it! Fight on just a little longer!"

The cruiser drawing them in now loomed above them, waiting for them to come into it's full grasp. Shiro was still fighting. They were almost in the hanger now, just a little further and it was over. Shiro could already see Galra soldiers standing at the ready.

The game was nearly over. The Galra would win. Shiro and his mother, as well as Keith and Logan were going to be imprisoned with no hope of the team finding them. Zarkon would probably use them as bait to draw the others into a trap. Shiro shook his head slowly.

"It can't end like this." He said quietly, as they were nearly in the hanger.

"Come'n in hot!" Lance's voice suddenly came in through the com in Shiro's helmet.

Just as those words were spoken, a line of laser fire shot past the Black Lion, shooting sharply into the hanger of the cruiser and weakening the tractor beam's hold. With that, Shiro twisted the Lion around and jetted away, seeing the Red Lion flying swiftly in their direction. Shiro felt his heart give a great leap when he saw not just Red, but Green, Blue and Yellow, and the Castle of Lions a little ways behind on the outside of the Galra circle, firing down on nearby enemy cruisers.

"Yes!" Shiro said joyously. "Great timing team!"

"What? Did you miss us?" Lance asked, coolly.

"We've got you covered Shiro." Allura said. "Let's get out of here."

"Before we do," said Shiro, "I need to pick up Keith and- a friend. Can you guys give us cover?"

"Will do." Allura affirmed.

"Wait, we?" Lance asked again.

"Hello." Eliza made herself known politely.

"Oh, yeah." Lance said, remembering Shiro had a friend with him, or something of that nature.

With the lions providing good cover and a distraction for the Galra, Shiro turned his lion around and set a course for the lead ship.

Zethrane gritted his teeth and slammed a clenched fist to a sentry unfortunate enough to be standing at arms reach. The Black Lion would have been in his cargo hold if the rest of his little pride hadn't suddenly come out of nowhere and saved him. Zethrane's eyes darted around at the now five lions darting around his battlefield. But wait. He didn't count five. He counted four. After looking at their colors, he realized the Black Lion was missing. Where had it gone?!

"Get me a visual of the Black Lion!" he demanded, his crew a little intimidated by the sentry lying in poor condition on the floor.

"Here sir," a soldier spoke up, bringing up on the screen a visual of Zethrane's desired object, "the Black Lion is headed on a course for our ship."

Zethrane's eyes narrowed. What purpose did they have coming here?! It looked as if they weren't planning on attack just yet. So what was the plan?

"Sir," a different soldier spoke up, "we have a breach in the hangar! Looks like two Blade of Marmora soldiers have infiltrated our ship!"

Two Blades? Could they be connected in some way to the Black Lion's objective? Either way, the pilot of the Black Lion was taking a huge risk if he planned to board Zethrane's ship, and Zethrane was catching at least one Voltron lion before he even thought about retreating. It was all of them against all of him. Zethrane gave a hateful smirk. He had to admit, he loved a challenge.

Keith jumped behind cover for what seemed like the twentieth time, Logan across from him in the same state. It hadn't taken the enemy long to find them in the hanger. Any and all exits were being blocked by reinforcements now. Keith ducked his head as a blast from a laser skimmed the top of the crate he was hiding behind. A crate topped full with bottles of quintessence.

"Hey watch it!" Logan shouted in frustration at the enemy. "If this stuff blows up we all go with it!"

That didn't really make the enemy stop shooting, proving their lack of sense, but Logan probably felt just a little bit better after venting. They were pinned at the moment by the advancing enemy. There was better cover nearby, to the enemy's left, but they would be shot down if they moved out to it.

"What happened to that sentry?" Keith shouted to his father above all the gunfire.

"Probably fell behind and got shot." Logan shouted back. "I haven't seen it."

Just then, as if on cue, the sentry with a limp who had been helping them, came running past them and towards the enemy, it's leg squeaking as it ran past as fast as it could. Logan and Keith both peaked their heads out from behind their cover to watch as the sentry drove forward toward the enemy, then threw itself into a cluster of it's once comrad sentries, making them all fall in a bundle of legs and arms down to the ground. The sentry kept them all down, putting up a distracting fight.

"Well," Logan said, "I guess that's our cue."

With the enemy slowed by the rebel sentry, Logan and Keith drove out of their cover in unison, running to better cover with less of a chance of stray fire hitting a crate filled with explosive quintessence. They were closer to the entrance doors, back where they started.

"How long do you think we'll have to keep this up?" Keith asked his father, who was beside him now.

Just as Keith said that, again as if on cue, the ship shook violently as something bashed it's way into the hangar. Logan put an arm around Keith to steady him as the air vacuum immediately began to suck everything out into space, stabbing his dagger as hard as he could into the metal floor. Keith looked around for a way out of the vacuum or at least something more solid for he and his father to hang on to, then noticed a control panel not far from the door where they had come in from. A button beeped on its keypad, and it was then that Keith remembered that certain ships had a forcefield which can seal breaches in the ship. Thinking the button was probably that, Keith ran out to the panel, fighting against the vacuum of space. He had a good start, and had just enough power to jump and hit that button before the vacuum was pulling him back off his feet and Logan's dagger was losing its hold.

The force field formed in a matter of seconds, and there was a loud thud as something heavy and made of metal landed on the hangar's floor. Keith himself landed with a thud as the gravity of the ship resumed. Pushing himself up, Keith looked around. Surprisingly, only a few crates of quintessence had made it out in space, the rest lay in heeps all over. Thankfully, none had exploded upon the impact of hitting the floor. Keith then turned his gaze to something big and looming where the hanger had been breached. He felt a smile grow on his face as the Black Lion stood strong and proud in the hanger, soon lowering it's great head and opening its jaw to allow the people inside to exit.

Keith walked around to where his father now stood, standing beside him. The Lion wasn't too far, it's great head, now stooped to the ground, only a few yards away. Keith felt his heart skip a beat when the figure of a woman exited the Lion's ramp. Beside him, Logan gasped, frozen in place. He saw her long, dark hair, the soft color of her skin, her familiar features, her lovely and beautiful eyes looking around and scanning the area. Finally, she looked their way, and saw him. Logan felt his breath leave him for a second, his heart still beating hard in his chest. Was this real? Could she really be standing right over there? Was is really his Izy? She too gave a breathless gasp from where she stood, a smile soon growing on her face. It was then that Logan knew, this was his long lost family, friend, and love.

Eliza began to come towards him, her steps gaining speed into a run, eager to be in his arms. Logan took a few weak steps forward, years of dreams and memories long thought impossible and so far away, had finally coming true and so close. His steps were becoming strides, and soon running ones as he sprinted towards her. Their eyes were fixed on those of the other, Logan leaping clean over a pile of bottled quintessence to get to her. The distance between them grew less and less, the distance from where they first started growing more and more until finally, they met in the middle, and Eliza was in Logan's arms.

He scooped her up and twirled her around as her arms came around the back of his neck, holding onto him. They twirled once, then were still, Logan burying his face in her shoulder and neck as he still held her. She held his head close to her, her fingers in his hair as she tenderly embraced him, her joy escaping her eyes and slipping down her cheek. Despite the battle outside, and the noise and everything around them, they felt contently alone, the other's embrace the only solid reality. Everything else was faded. They stood like that for a minute, until they pulled away only enough to see the other's face. Logan gently kissed her lips, years of thinking she was dead now washed away. The kiss lasted a few seconds, then they parted.

Eliza brushed away her tears with the palm of her hand.

"Sorry I'm late." She jested, half laughing and half crying. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"And I you." Logan said, in the same state as her.

Eliza caressed his cheeks with her hands, her thumbs wiping away his tears. He had missed her so much. He couldn't stop crying and smiling at the same time. He bowed his head a moment, but because of his height, Eliza could still see his face from where she stood. Her joyous laugh and with the feeling of her head leaning on his chest and the comfort her arms around him brought, Logan was every bit within her embrace. His arms wrapped around her shoulders for a moment, then finally, they were both able to part from each other's arms with mostly dry eyes.

It was when they parted, that Eliza saw a young boy in Marmora garb standing a little behind Logan, looking at her with wet eyes. Eliza gasped at recognizing that older, but still familiar face.

"Keith?" She asked, stepping closer.

The boy was silent, until finally he spoke through the lump in his throat.

"Hi Mom…." He said, a smile beginning to pull at the corners of his mouth.

Keith came to his mother and fell into her open arms, hugging her tight, and being parallel to his height, Eliza didn't have to reach all too high up to put her arms around his neck.

As mother and son embraced finally after so many years, Shiro, who stood just a little behind Eliza, looked to Logan, who he himself was parallel in height to. Logan noticed the Black Paladin looking at him, then gave a smile.

"We've never met," Logan said to him, and he held out his hand to the man, "I'm Logan."

Shiro was about to give the first half of his last name which everyone referred to him by, but knowing this was family, he thought he should give his real name.

"Takashi." Shiro said, shaking Logan's hand with a greeting smile.

Logan's handshake was firm, just like Shiro's, but since both men hadn't known much of a family, they could tell they were welcomed by each other as well as already respected.

"So," Eliza's voice spoke to Keith, causing Shiro and Logan to look her way, "has Logan told you anything about…."

She trailed off to see where he stood. Keith smiled up at his mother, knowing what she meant and answered as all four of them were now standing in a kind of circle.

"Yeah," he said with a small nod, "he told me everything he knew: including the part that apparently I have a half brother back on Earth."

"Yeah, hi." Shiro said as a matter of factly, giving Keith a big smile touched with a sense of humor as he gave a small greeting wave.

This was when Keith looked at him with a dropped jaw, the ironic meeting hitting him suddenly with no warning. He was silent and stared at Shiro for several seconds, blinking, opening his mouth and trying to work out something to say before he finally said something.

"Hi." Was all Keith found to say, still blown away.

Shiro just shook his head and chuckled.

"I don't know if I should smack you for leaving all alone and still recovering without telling us or give you a hug because I was so worried." he said, a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Keith's shoulders tensed and he winced a little at remembering the way he had so recklessly left the Castle of Lions.

"Uh…." He exclaimed, a little unsure of how to respond and say he was sorry.

Shiro chuckled again.

"Come here." He said, pulling Keith closer by the shoulder and giving him a brotherly hug.

Keith chuckled as well and hugged his brother back. Eliza and Logan looked at them in full contentment, Eliza's expression showing her absolute adornment of her two sons.

"Wait," She suddenly said, her tone worried as she caught onto something, "recovering?"

Keith pulled away from Shiro with the same, tense, kind of look.

"Uh yeah," he said, a little nervous, "just a little injury. No big deal."

Shiro concealed a chuckle.

"Yeah." he seemingly agreed. "Getting crushed by a bunch of rocks is 'no big deal'."

"What?!" Both Eliza and Logan said in the same sudden worry.

"You said it was no big deal!" Logan mildly scolded.

"I'm fine now!" Keith protested, shrugging his shoulders and hands as if to emphasize his innocence.

Eliza soon sighed, shaking her head a little.

"Don't be so hard on him," She said to Logan, a hidden playful tone in her voice growing, "it's just the sort of thing you would say."

"I don't do that!" Logan protested, looking to her and now mimicking Keith's shrug. He soon then mimicked Eliza's playful tone as well. "Besides, your the one who's always so annoyingly selfless all the time."

His tease made Keith struggle to hold back a chuckle, thinking of how Shiro was the same sometimes. Eliza laughed, as did Logan, and he brought an arm around her and Keith. Keith did the same and he and Eliza brought Shiro into the circle. All four of them stood that way for a minute, a family finally reunited. It was the first time they all felt complete, with nothing missing. A true family at last.

After such a long moment of forgetting the situation around them, the family was surprised when a bolt of laser fire flew past them. They broke their small circle to look at who had fired. A lone soldier stood in the entry doorway, his blaster directed at them. Seeing as it was just one soldier, and the fact that the Black Lion loomed defensively over the family, Shiro, Keith, Eliza and Logan didn't look all too worried. In fact, they all shared a smirk in knowing the Galra soldier was in for it. Upon the Black Lion suddenly turning its head towards the potential danger and giving a low growl, the soldier quickly retreated back the way he had come.

"Can you guys hurry it up in there!?" Lance's voice rather screamed through Shiro's com.

"They have reinforcements!" Allura shouted as well, her voice on the rise in the heat of battle.

"Alright," Shiro said, coming towards his Lion as it lowered its head back down to let him in, "we're on our way." He then said to his family. "Time to go."

Keith followed, and Eliza alongside Logan.

"Let's get out of here and leave these guys in the dust for good." Logan said confidently.

With everything that just happened, he had no doubt that they were all gonna do just what he said. He suddenly felt Eliza no longer by his side anymore. Logan looked back and saw she was standing still, her gaze shifted down and her brow furrowed in thought.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked, knowing that look wasn't good.

"They came to us." Eliza said, as if connecting the pieces. "How could they have found us if we had not come to find them?"

Logan was silent, thinking about the question, as did Shiro and Keith. Eliza answered the question herself, looking up at them all.

"They found us because of me…." She said guiltily, her shoulders dropping a little.

"What?" Logan asked, as if the thought was absurd.

"It's just like how they found me all those years ago on Forelongs." Eliza said, her gaze dropping in guilt. "I had gotten into memories I wasn't supposed to, and that sent out a warning signal in my implant. Now, after accessing that satellite, I put my system momentarily into use in a network most likely connected somehow to a Galra control station. In doing that, I led them straight to us. They'll track me for miles. We can't be safe with me."

"Oh no." Logan said, refusing to except what she might have been about to suggest. "The Galra aren't going to tear us apart like last time. There has to be a way to block them completely out of your system."

Eliza thought hard for a minute.

"With the new upgrade I installed," she said after a minute, "I could try to do something, but I'd need a powerful network to do it."

"The computer in the heart of the ship is the most powerful one we'll find." Logan said. "We'll get to it, you can do your thing, and we'll be out of here for good."

"We?" Eliza asked.

Logan stepped closer to her with a soft, confident smile and eyes.

"We." he ensured. "There's no way I'm letting you do this alone. Not again."

Eliza smiled, then looked to her sons. Logan following her gaze.

"Takashi, Keith, you two stay together and buy us some time." Logan said.

"How will you guys get out?" Keith asked his parents.

"We can take an escape pod." Logan assured. "Just like the plan we had before, only a little different. We'll still get to blow this thing up."

"But wait," Eliza said, and she glanced at the bottles and crates of quintessence around them. "they'll be on our tales and we'll be caught in the blast with all this quintessence fueling the explosion."

"Not if we make a wormhole jump." Keith put in.

Now it was Eliza and Logan's turn to have a dropped jaw.

"You can do that?" Logan asked.

"The Castle of Lions can." Shiro said. "It's right outside waiting for us. And even if we don't get out of the blast radius in time, the castle might be able to withstand it with the particle barrier."

"Hm." Logan exclaimed, genuinely impressed. "I guess we have nothing to worry about then."

He looked to Eliza with a confident look. Eliza looked at him and gave a comforted smile.

"Alright then," she said with a shrug, "let's do it." She looked to Keith and Shiro. "Stay safe boys."

"You too." Keith said.

"Both of you." Shiro emphasized.

With that, Logan brought everyone back together for a brief hug, and then, they parted ways.

"We'll see you guys in a bit." Eliza said as she and Logan went on their way.

Shiro and Keith ran up the ramp of the Black Lion, Shiro soon in his seat. From the cockpit, they both watched their parents disappear through the entry doors of the hanger. Pretty soon, Keith thought, this was all going to be over. Everything could calm down, and they'd have some time for some relaxation, finally.

"Team," Shiro said into the com, "we're coming out."

With that, Shiro turned Black around and jumped out into space through the forcefield, which allowed anything except the vacuum of space through. Once they were back out, both Keith and Shiro gasped.

"Talk about reinforcements." Keith said, gazing at all of the enemy cruisers surrounding them.

There had to be near fifty. Shiro saw them all as well, and remembered his days in the arena. So many had sat up in their places to watch the fight, and that is how it felt now. Imprisoned and forced to fight for survival.

"We won't be able to hold off all of these guys!" Pidge said in the com.

"We were barely managing before!" Lance added, the sound of his lion being hit echoing through the com.

It was then that Shiro had a very familiar idea which he was quite sure would work against the enemy.

"Coran, can you keep the Galra off our backs for a few sec- uh, ticks?"

"Affirmative." Coran responded.

The Castle of Lions immediately began to draw the enemy fire as it rained fire down on the Galra cruisers.

"Paladins," Shiro now said, "on me!"

"We're headed your way Shiro." Allura responded.

As the Castle of Lions provided the room they needed, the lions of Voltron all came to the Black Lion.

From the lead ship, Zethrane saw what they were most likely planning.

"Break up the lions, now!" He ordered, but they were already flying in unison, gaining speed and beginning to glow their own individual colors.

Keith held on tight to Shiro's chair, his eyes focused ahead: ready for what came next. Shiro felt his bond with Black deepen and grow to his team as the lion drew up its strength and connected with its fellow lions. As the lions all reached the climax of their state, Shiro spoke to his team like he had done so many time before.

"Form Voltron!" He said to them.

At his word, the lions transformed together in unison and perfect timing. Lance, Pidge, Allura and Hunk became the arms and legs of Voltron, and Shiro became the head. Then, in a flash it seemed, in the midst of the battle, the legendary warrior soon stood ready to fight all of its enemies at once.

Zethrane gritted his teeth once again, but this time didn't slam his fist into a sentry. This time he only grabbed a sentry (the same one he had hit last time which was just starting to stand up after a reboot) and shoved it down to the ground violently with a single, strong hand.

"All cruisers focus fire on Voltron!" He ordered.

His fleet obeyed, and Zethrane's ship shook violently when it took a hit from a strange, enemy ship outside the circle which was most likely allied with Voltron.

"And someone shoot that ship out of space." Zethrane said, irritated by the pesky ship.

The fleet once again obeyed. Two Gulran cruisers were turning their ion cannons to the enemy ship, firing when ready and at will.

"Lets take out that lead ship!" Lance suggested as Voltron dodged an ion cannon's ray.

"No," Keith put in, "we have people still on that thing. We can't risk attacking the ship while their aboard."

"Why didn't they just come with you?" Lance ask him.

"The short end is this," Shiro told his team, "our people have something important they need to do inside the ship. Once their done, they're gonna set the cruiser to explode, and we'll wormhole out of here before it does."

"The ship is loaded with quintessence by the way," Keith added, "which will fuel the explosion and wipe out this fleet. Our friends will get out and after we pick them up, we can head for the Castle of Lions. Right Shiro?"

"Right." Shiro responded. "But until then, we need to keep the cruisers busy."

"And I don't think Voltron or the Castle of Lions even will be too badly hurt if we get caught in the blast." Pidge commented.

"Ya think?" Lance asked, a little nervous, but Pidge didn't reply.

Voltron was a blur in space. With sword in hand, it cut through cruisers and fighters, but now that all five lions had become one giant target, it was easier for the enemy to spot them and even more likely to land a good hit. The Castle of Lions was taking quite the beating by the two Galra cruisers. Coran had managed to take down one with the castle's defenses, but the particle barrier could only take a few more hits before it was wiped out.

Zethrane watched the battle in front of him. It was a good thing he had called in more backup and that more were on their way. Voltron was faster and more powerful when the lions were one, but they were also a bigger target to hit. As Zethrane watched the giant robot battle, he noticed something intriguing.

"Why haven't they fled yet?" He asked himself quietly, his eyes set on his enemy.

The question was a good one, and he considered it deeply. His enemy had not made a single move to flee out of the circle he and his, now, fleet had made. Why was that? Did they have a reason for remaining here? He doubted they were simply enjoying the battle, and space was getting tight, so why stay? Could there be something here that they wanted? They hadn't at all tried to return to his ship after the Black Lion bashed through to the hanger. Zethrane's suspicion made his eyes narrow at the warrior of legend, but his thoughts were interrupted when a soldier said his name.

"General Zethrane?" the Galra asked.

"What is it?" He asked, unpressed that his thoughts had been interrupted.

"We have two intruders making their way through the ship and receiving help from an unknown third party hacking our systems."

"Put them on screen."

The soldier pulled up on Zethrane's screen the intruders. He guess one was the same Marmora warrior who had broken into his hanger, but he knew exactly who the one with him is.

"There is no third party hacker," Zethrane told the soldier, "that is the work of the female. She's making her way to somewhere in the ship. Set the ship on lock down. No door opens or closes without my approval."

"I tried sir," the soldier responded, "she's over ridden the ship's systems. They're not responding to me."

"Try again using the code 1A5-6970."

"Yes sir."

"Sounds like quite the battle out there." Logan commented as he and Eliza ran side by side through another doorway.

"I just hope the boys are safe." Eliza replied.

"Safe isn't exactly the word to describe what's going on out there." said Logan. "But Takashi is the leader of Voltron, and Keith a Blade of Marmora. They'll be alright. This probably isn't their first battle."

Eliza only sighed as they continued to run.

"We're almost there." She said after they had run through two more door frames.

Her implant was already working to open another door when suddenly she felt an old, once crippling code try mildly to prick at her implants defenses. It wasn't enough to take back her mind or do anything harmful, and she easily deflected it out of her software, but she had a shivering knowledge of what it was.

"They know I'm here." Eliza said to Logan. "They tried to use a code to break into my implant."

"They can do that?" Logan asked.

"Not anymore. It turns out to be the same one I broke through years ago to access my past. And now my system is powerful enough to combat it with the new upgrade."

"So it has no effect on you anymore?"

"Yep."

"Well isn't that nice."

The two ran on for a minute, each door opening as they approached in good timing until the door that was in front of them didn't open like it was suppose to. Logan and Eliza stopped in front of it.

"Why won't it open?" Logan asked.

"The Galra must be trying to take back the ship." Eliza said, looking at the doors. "The code doesn't work on me anymore, but it looks like it does work on the ship and can override my work."

"Can you take it back?" Logan asked.

"Not all at once with the time we have, but I can get us where we need to go. Give me a sec."

Logan stood beside Eliza, waiting for the doors to open as she worked.

"Accessing door 159 in hall thirty seven, floor three…." Eliza said in that blank computer tone. "Combating code detected, redirecting code to operate in opposite function…. Code redirected."

The door opened, but Logan was looking at Eliza with a sad kind of gaze.

"I forgot how much I hated that." He said.

Eliza looked at him in slight surprise.

"I always thought it never bothered you." She said.

"Seeing someone I love who's never been free even outside of a prison, that bothers me."

Eliza gave him a small smile.

"Well," she said, "if everything goes right, it'll end today."

It was then that Logan's sharp ears began to hear feet pounding their way down the hall in their direction. He turned and face the direction behind them, drawing his dagger.

"We're about to have company." he prepared Eliza. "Will you be able to close the door behind us in time?"

Eliza looked to the battalion of sentries running their way.

"I think so." she said.

She and Logan went through the frame of the door, and right before they were in range of the enemies weapons, Eliza had closed the door.

"Would destroying the control panel do any good?" Logan asked.

"It would lock it from our side, slow the mechanics of the door and they'd eventually get through" Eliza said with a shrug, "but it would prevent them from opening it quickly and would buy us some time."

With that, Logan shifted his dagger into the sword with ease, then cut the blade deep through the control panel. It sparked, then coughed a little spoke and it's glow fell dull, and they continued their path down the hall. Even as they were running, Eliza was working on opening the next door, Logan hearing her talk through it as they ran. The next door opened, and once they were through, Logan slashed his sword's blade at the panel after it closed. This process continued several times before finally, they reached the hall where the door to the heart of the ship lay. They weren't too far from it when up ahead, a group of sentries had come through the doors and were close enough to aim and fire. The first few shots were misses, and by the time Logan pushed Eliza through the door, they were near misses. The door shut, and Logan slashed at the panel once with his blade, locking it for a little while on their side. They both stood, breathing heavily, in the room. The sound of the sentries bashing at the door made Eliza jump.

"I'll keep watch over the door." Logan said, turning his head towards Eliza, "You do what you need to do."

Eliza obeyed, and going to the computer, she began to find a way to break the chains that the Galra had put on her so long ago. Logan meanwhile watched the door with a dangerous glare in his eye, ignoring the pain of the wound in his side.

Keith struggled to keep his footing as yet another stream of fighters hit Voltron, in the back this time. Voltron had been trying to take out as many cruisers as possible, but with as many as there were, it was going to be near impossible. Yet again the point wasn't really to defeat them all, but to buy time, but time itself was running out for buying time.

"I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up!" Allura said, her tone heightened in battle's heat.

"I know we're hurting," Shiro said, his sentence paused a minute by another hit, "and I know you guys probably have a lot of questions, but I need you to fight on for just a little longer. Are you still with me?"

"We're always with you Shiro." Lance said, very confident and very sincere.

In that moment, Voltron was suddenly hit on the right shoulder by the ray from an ion cannon. Lance's small cry (mostly in surprise and slight fright), brought everyone's attention to the cruizer who fired.

Zethrane smiled.

"Yes. They are beginning to tire." He said. "Hit them again!"

A different cruiser landed another shot, hitting the robotic warrior in the back, causing it to stumble forward (so to speak since it wasn't really standing).

"Again!" Zethrane ordered.

Two more shots from two different cruisers, not caring about the fighters that got in the way. Voltron was hit twice, the force pushing it towards the lead ship, dazed. The warrior faced the lead ship now, and the Galra soldier who manned the ion cannon saw a good, well aimed shot and took it. With a single, powerful blast, the cannon's ray flew through space to strike Voltron straight in the head. Voltron tumbled backwards once, then went still, floating exposed in space, its paladins most likely out cold.

Eliza sighed a little in frustration.

"So far I've found nothing that can help me get rid of the Galra's tracker in my implant!" She said in frustration.

Even with this computer mind of her's, she felt like she was blank with no results.

"You'll find a way." Logan spoke from where he stood at the door, but Eliza caught a very strange tone in his voice.

He sounded, not quite winded, but not his usual, strong sounding, voice. It almost had a weak air to his words. Wondering if he was alright, Eliza turned her head to look at him. Logan was still facing the door, his back rather turned to her, but he was slightly hunched over, his right hand holding his sword loosely.

"Logan?" Eliza asked, a little concerned. "Are you alright?"

Logan was silent for a moment. He then sighed, and struggled to stand up straight.

"Just a little thing," he told her, trying to turn around without making it look like it took much effort to stay upright, "just a bit of a flesh wound or, something."

Eliza gasped in sudden fear to see Logan was covering a rather large wound in his right side, which had been caused by a laser blast that had managed to catch him on their way into the room. The wound hadn't been burnt closed since it was too big and the laser hadn't gone all the way through. It was just a very bad mix of a burn and bullet wound, which meant a good deal of pain. It was because of that pain and the wound itself that made Logan stumble to the ground, his sword slipping out of his hand before he did so. He would have completely fallen if Eliza had not rushed forward and caught him, exclaiming his name. She gently held him in her lap as she examined his wound. It wasn't good. Another bash on the door reminded Eliza that time truly wasn't on their side. As she fought to keep calm, she suddenly realized that she heard nothing from outside. The bashing on the door was still going, but nothing was happening outside the ship it seemed. Her eyes went to the computer screen, hoping to see what was going on. She gasped when she saw Voltron floating limp and exposed in space. She instantly worried for Takashi and Keith. Logan coughed in her arms, and Eliza quickly put pressure on his wound, searching her mind for what to do.

The particle barrier had just been broken when the enemy stopped firing, probably at the command of their leader. The castle was on very low power, the lights dimmed. Coran and the little space mice were very dizzy, but when Coran realized the enemy and battlefield was silent, he feared the worst. When he looked up (he had fallen to the ground after the last hit had broken the barrier and violently shook the castle) and to the battlefield, he could see Voltron floating in space: motionless.

"Paladins?" Coran asked into the coms. "Paladins! Can you hear me?! Princess?! Anyone!?"

He waited to see if they would respond, holding his breath.

"We're here Coran." Allura's tired voice came through, sounding as though she had just woke up.

Coran breathed a relieved sigh.

"Is everyone alright?" Lance asked, in the same state as Allura, sitting back up in his seat.

"I'm, more or less okay." He heard Pidge say.

"Me too. I think that last hit really did a number on us." said Hunk.

"Yeah," Pidge said, and it was then she began to realize something, "right to Voltron's head."

Lance saw what she was saying and then suddenly noticed the dark state of his controls and that he felt a very floating sensation (even though he was sitting in his seat). Voltron was probably out cold due to the direct hit to the head. He tried to move his controls, but Red wasn't moving. Suddenly, everyone jumped when a purple light suddenly beamed down on them from more or less above. When they looked up, the lead ship's tractor beam was beginning to pull them in.

"I think we goda move," Lance said, "now!"

"YA THINK?!" Pidge half shouted to him, trying madly to move her lion.

"My lion won't move or anything!" Hunk said, panicking.

Lance tried to move Red again, but the lion was still out cold it seemed.

"Red can't move either!" he said.

"Shiro," Allura said desperately, "is your lion doing anything?"

Silence.

"Shiro?" Allura asked, and when there was no response, she grew very worried. "Shiro?! Keith!? Are you all right?!"

"Voltron took a blast directly to the head," Pidge realized with dread, "they must be out cold!"

"Shiro! Keith!" Allura tried again. "Wake up! Please!"

Keith had been lying unconscious on the floor, and he now woke up to be hearing his name being called. The cockpit was oddly dark except for a purple light flooding down on them from above. Keith's head was blurry and he struggled to open his eyes and see past the white film over his them, the result of the blinding light from the… ion cannan! Keith sat up in a mad hurry, and looked around. Shio was slumped in his chair, unconscious from the blast after having been in direct view with it. Standing before his body was fully ready, Keith stumbling to Shiro and leaned heavily against his brother's chair as he came to him.

"Shiro?" Keith said, trying to call his older brother awake. "Shiro wake up!"

Shiro remained unconscious.

"Guys," Keith then said to the rest of the team, still recovering from his own weak state, "Shiro is down."

"Coran," he heard Allura say in the com, her voice urgent, "we need help! Voltron and Shiro are down!"

"The castle is nearly drained of all power!" Coran said direfully. "I can't get to you!"

Keith looked up at the purple light coming through the windshield, and now saw that all of Voltron was being sucked in towards the lead ship. Looking down at the controls and even trying to move them, Keith concluded that Voltron was truly out cold. Was this how it would end?! It couldn't end like this! If Voltron became captured, it was all over! What would they do!?

Eliza wasn't sure what to do. They were trapped. There had to be a whole battalion of sentries outside that door. She couldn't find a way to rid herself of the tracker in her implant. Her two sons, not to mention Voltron, were about to become prisoners of the Galra Empire, and Logan was in critical condition (though she knew it was worse) in her arms. What could she do!? She calculated the events and how this would end if it continued with her computer calibrated mind, but every logical conclusion it made was one she didn't like. She searched for a new plan. Perhaps she could tap into the tractor beam system and at least stall or turn it off completely, freeing Voltron. She tried, but the computer system was being corrupted by that same code the Galra had for so long kept her slaved by. She had underestimated the newer technology, and was quickly being shut out of the system. She was running out of options, and her attention was turned to Logan when he gave a bad cough again. She looked down at him, and saw how pale he was getting, his eyes half closed, and she saw red liquid at the corner of his mouth (a bad sign).

"Stay with me." She told him. "We'll get out of this. We just need to find a way."

She searched for options, but was coming up with the same conclusion, which was one that frightened and frustrated her. Their chances of survival were low. Terribly low. Her eyes went again to Voltron, getting closer and closer to doom as the Galra sucked them in. She tried again to reach the tractor beam, but to no avail.

"There has to be a way." she told herself. "There has to be."

She felt a hand gently grasp her own, and suddenly the tense moment around her slowed. Eliza looked down, Logan's weak, fading eyes looking up at her. His eyes reflected a grave look, a painful look, though a pain not caused by physical hurt.

"Izy…." He said to her, his words quiet, "I… I'm not getting out of this one…. Not this time."

"No," Eliza said firmly, "you will. We all will. Just hold on a little bit longer…. Please."

"It's a mortal wound Izy…." Logan reasoned with her, still holding her hand, "you know that…."

Eliza fought the reality a second, but when she could fight it no longer, her face broke in sorrow and pain. She was silent, trying to bring herself together. She had always hated to cry in front of someone, even in front of him. Even if she had a right to cry, she always hated it. But she couldn't help it as the tears rolled down her cheeks against her will, refusing to bring her hand off Logan's wound to wipe them away.

"You can't leave me." She told Logan, her voice unsteady as she looked at him. "We've only just come back together. We can't be separated! Not again!"

The life in Logan's eyes was fading, like a flickering light about to go out, but he drew up what strength he had left to speak.

"Do… what you have to do… to save what's left of our family…." He told her. "Leave me here… after I'm gone... I, could never ask you to stay and die with me… so please… please leave all of this, and me, behind." He said, pausing to breathe.

"Your asking me to leave my life behind." Eliza told him, gently holding his head in her free hand, holding his hand with her other. "I won't leave you. Not again. Not ever again. I will stay with you, so you aren't alone. No one, should be alone."

Logan gave a weak smile.

"I am glad… that I got to see your face… one, last, time…." he said, the light in his eyes nearly gone as he weakly gripped her hand tighter. "...I… I, love…."

He never finished that sentence. With a gentle sigh, his body went still, his eyes closed, and his heart beat to a slow, gentle stop. His hand's grip on hers slowly loosened until it slid to the floor. Silence, a painful, heart wrenching silence, filled the room like water. Every sound was faded to deafening silence. Forever it would be said, that for one to die in their lover's arms, was the best way one could die. They could die happy, for if it was true love, they would die with a smile, however small and faint. In his last hours, Logan had smiled, which meant beyond any doubt that he truly loved Eliza. And forever it would be said, that for the lover who was left behind, and if it was true love, all there was left to do now, was to cry for their loved: which Eliza did. She bowed her head, still holding Logan, and bringing him closer to her she cried, for she did beyond any doubt truly love him. She'd always love him, even after his breath ceased, his heart stopped, and his body grew cold. Nothing in all this universe or any other, would make her stop loving the man she married, not even death.

Zethrane grinned, which was something he rarely did. He only grinned when he was neck deep in glorious victory. The day was his. The battle his. Voltron, his. He was on top, and nothing could knock him down now. Voltron was defeated. He would deliver the weapon to his emperor and have glory and maybe even fortun abound. This is how it would end.

"Shiro!" Keith called again to his brother. "Shiro, your our only hope! Come on, wake up! Please!"

Keith shook Shiro by the shoulders, and his heart lifted with hope when the Black Paladin's eyes opened. Shiro sat up slowly, wincing.

"What… What happened?" He asked, still dazed.

"Voltron is down, we're getting sucked in by the Galra, and Coran can't move the castle!" Keith said, his voice cracking a little. "Can you bring back your lion?!"

Shiro struggled to sit up and closed his eyes, trying to reach his lion, but the Black Lion was still out cold. Shiro opened his eyes, shaking his head. He looked up and saw how close they were getting to the lead ship.

"No." He breathed. "This can't be how it ends!"

Eliza's tears were slowly drying now, for there was only so much of them she had left. The only joys in her life were being taken, one already gone. She still held her Logan, slowly growing cold, in her arms. The sentries were almost through the door now, she could hear them continuing to bash at it. Her last two precious joys and loves were about to be captured, and all the universe would pay. Eliza looked up to Voltron, a fleeting hope that the robot had regained consciousness. Voltron was still limp, to her dying hope.

Eliza sighed. Is this truly how it would end? Was there truly nothing she could do but sit here and wait for her capture? The plan they had made had seemed so simple, but now it was a complete impossibility… or was it? Eliza wondered, and she wondered good and long, about a leg in the plan that had always stayed the same. The part of the plan which meant escape for Takashi, Keith, and their friends, but required removing herself from the equation in order to work. Eliza realized with her eyes growing wet again what she had to do. She had always known that someday, she'd have to let her dear boys, Takashi and Keith, go. She had always known, that someday they'd have to spread their wings and fly away, and she would have to let them fly away, without her. She would have to let them move on. Part of her didn't want to, but the other part knew she must, as all parents must. She had to lovingly let them go, so that they could live out the rest of their lives to the fullest. She only hoped, that they wouldn't miss her so much that it was crippling.

Zethrane was getting impatient. Voltron had been just in range of the the tractor beam. It had been a good two minutes at least. He tapped a foot.

"What's taking so long?!" He demanded.

"We're almost there sir." A soldier replied, trying to be as respectful as he could in fear of his general's wrath.

Zethrane sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and forcing himself to be patient. He would taste his victory soon enough, the countdown starting, tuning his ears to hear when the soldier said his prize was here. His eyes flashed open when suddenly he heard a beeping. The screen in front of him was red, Galra symbols changing in a countdown, starting at ten ticks.

"Stop it, now!" He demanded, knowing what it meant (a self destruct countdown).

"I'm trying!" The soldier said. "It's fighting me! It's the same code from before. 1-A-5."

Eliza's gaze was focused ahead on nothing in particular, her right eye glowing. By routing the self destruct through her implant's programming and entangling it with the code, she had made it unstoppable to the Galra. Already they were at six ticks, but her mind was far away. She thought of her family. Her broken, but true family. She remembered all those years with Takashi, and then with Logan and Keith. She let all the memories play, only the best ones. At three ticks, she was completely lost in that world of memories, just so that she didn't fear the end. At two ticks, Keith, Shiro and the paladins were all lost in hopelessness, Coran helpless to do anything. Finally, at one tick, Zethrane came to a conclusion which astonished, angered, and chilled his blood to the bone. Right when he had thought he had won, he lost.

The time ran out, and the ship did as it was supposed to do. One moment Keith and Shiro were hopelessly doomed, then, a blast of light flung them back, and all went dark.

Some time after that moment, Keith was standing alone, looking out one of the Castle of Lions' many windows. Voltron and the castle had all survived the blast, but the fleet hadn't. What was left of the Galra fleet, was scattered in pieces and floating about in space. There was no reason to search for survivors. Only Voltron and the castle could have survived. The death of both his parents in that explosion had made Keith silent for many hours. All he could do was stare out at the graveyard of ships and stars. He soon heard footsteps down the hall, but he didn't need to look to see who it was. He could see part of the most noticeable features reflected in the glass of the window. Shiro came to stand by his brother's side, looking out into the black void of space.

"How are you?" Shiro asked him.

"I'm…" Keith said, thinking of something to say. "fine."

Shiro knew that wasn't true.

"How are you really?" he asked again, turning his head slightly to look at Keith.

Keith's gaze lowered a bit.

"I..." He said, hesitating. "I'm, angry…."

This made Shiro look more at his brother, listening to what he had to say as he continued.

"For one moment," said Keith, his voice shaking in a way that someone's might when they're near crying, "I thought, that after all this searching, after looking for every clue and looking under every stone, I had finally found my family. In one moment, we were all there, together, like we were gonna be that way forever. But then, in the next moment, they were gone. Mom and Dad, they're both gone…." his fists clenched down at his sides. "And we don't even know why they couldn't escape! Why they had to die!"

Keith's face had been hidden from Shiro's view since the boy had been keeping his head down, his voice quiet, but now Keith looked up to Shiro with tears flooding his eyes (though they weren't falling).

"Why did they have to die? Why could we just stay a family? Why do we have to be broken? Why did it all have to end so suddenly?" He asked, his dark eyes shining from the trapped tears.

Shiro's own tears were visible as well. He fought to keep his demeanor the same. To not break. He looked away from Keith, seeing their mother's features in his expression. Shiro had seen their mother cry, and the way Keith cried reflected her in a painful way.

"I don't know…." Shiro admitted, his voice quiet. "I don't know why we came so far to just lose it all. I don't know if what happened was by accident, or if they were trying to save us. I wish I could tell you. I wish I had the answers, but I don't…." He paused, his sadness controlling his breathing and making his body tremble. He shut his eyes tight and bowed his head. "I'm just as lost as you are, Keith…." He continued in a voice that had broken underneath his grief. "That's what's so hard about loss… you never see it coming…."

The tears in Keith's eyes broke free after hearing his brother say this, and he bowed his head as well. A sob escaped him, and as if it had sucked all of the strength in him, he turned around so his back was to the window and leaning against it, he let himself fall down to sit with his back against the wall on the ground. His legs merely remained a little bent as he sat with his back to the wall, bowing his head to hide his crying. Shiro was soon doing the same, and the brothers sat that way, heads bowed, side by side, defeated by their grief, and all alone. The hall they were in was rather dark, and so it felt right to cry here. It was dark, it was rather cold, and it was excluded from everything and everyone. Shiro and Keith sat side by side, crying, for many minutes. There was no movement except their shoulders and bodies jerking from their sobs. No sound but their sobs in the dim, dark hall, and there was no echo for someone far away to hear. They stayed that way for a couple, long minutes, until their tears were nearly spent for the time being.

Keith used his sleeve to wipe his cheeks and eyes, sniffing. Shiro wiped his own eyes and cheeks with his hand. The two sat there, very quiet, still very sad with no one but each other. Keith shook his head a little.

"What do we do now?" He asked hopelessly. "Where do we go from here? Where do we even start?"

Shiro could hear the hopelessness in his brother's tone. He himself didn't know where to start. He felt like he was thrown right back to the beginning, when he was seven, and his mother was gone, and he was alone. But Shiro then realized something. He wasn't alone, was he? His gaze looked over to his brother, whose gaze was down. Shiro wasn't quite sure what to say, so instead he decided to act. He put an arm around his brother's shoulders, and held him. In his childhood, no one had really been there to hold him, and it was a very lonely thing. Shiro could have been with a thousand people, but none would really comforted him. Not truly out of compassion and love. He didn't want Keith to feel the same. Keith wasn't expecting the physical comfort from his brother, and he looked at Shiro with surprised eyes. Shiro took a deep breath in and exhaled, his breath still shaky as he gathered a response to his brother's questions.

"I'm not sure." He finally told Keith honestly. "I'm not sure if, there's really a certain thing you should do when you loss someone. The fact is that, they're gone, and we can't bring them back. Maybe the best thing to do is to just, grieve. Taking time to remember them, in their best moments, and taking the time we need to just, move on?"

"But when is it going to stop hurting so bad?" Keith asked, his voice breaking a little.

Shiro shrugged.

"I don't know." He said, honestly. "Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it never will…. But, maybe it'll get better, if we keep moving forward?"

"But how?" Keith asked. "How can you move on from something like this?"

His gaze shifted down again. Shiro thought about it.

"Maybe…." He wondered. "Maybe it's about taking the first step. Finding a way to make your peace with loss."

Keith pondered what Shiro had said. Shiro himself was just discovering his own words. Perhaps comforting someone else and helping them, helped himself as well.

"I think I might have an idea for that." Keith suddenly said, a little surprised by his own words and drawing Shiro's gaze back to him.

A while later, after a trip in Shiro's lion, and a hike up a path, Keith and Shiro stood atop a mountain in the quiet last moments of night as dawn began to break over the trees of Forelongs. In their parents' honor, they gathered some stones and made two small, monument piles, side by side. Each rock fitted as best it could be fit to be sure no amount of weather would move them. They found two rather flat stones, flat enough for writing on, and decided to put their parents' names on each. Using Keith's dagger, they carved the names of their parents into the stone, just the first names: Eliza and Logan, and they made wood crosses and stuck them at the head of both stone memorials.

Finally, by the time the sun's rays were just starting to effect the sky, turning it and the land to that pale blue color, the memorials were finished. Keith and Shiro had faced the monuments so that when the sun rose, it would cast the shadow of the crosses on the stones. Keith held his dagger in hand still, and they stood still as dawn was breaking. The chilly wind blew through Shiro's hair, his white forelock the only thing moving really since most of his hair was short.

"This was a good idea Keith." He said softly to his brother.

Keith nodded gently.

"Yeah." he said. "I think it kind of helps."

"I think it does, yeah. I just wish we had at least something of them to keep or bury."

They were silent again, their eyes on their parents' memorials. The sun was just barely about to rise over the horizon. The beginning of a new day.

"Here." Shiro suddenly heard Keith say.

When Shiro looked to Keith, his brother was holding out the handle of his Marmora dagger to him. Shiro blinked, and looked at Keith.

"It belonged to Mother." Keith admitted, his gaze lowered down to the blade. "Maybe you should have it, as something of her's for you to keep."

Shiro looked at Keith a moment, then down at the dagger. He examined the purple symbol, the gray color of the blade, a pale bluish color in the dawn's light. Shiro sighed, closing his eyes, he reached for the dagger. Rather than take it, he merely gripped it as well as his brother's hand with his own, not taking it, but not pushing it away either. Keith looked up at Shiro with a look of surprise. Shiro looked at him with soft, brotherly eyes, and he gave Keith a small smile.

"She was your mother as much as she was mine." Shiro told him. "We have her and Dad, right here: in ourselves, and in each other."

Keith stared at Shiro, the surprise slowly fading to a comforted expression. He gave Shiro a soft smile. With that, Shiro pulled Keith close by the hand he was already holding. Keith hugged his brother back, and in that moment, much of their pain and cold loneliness was washed away as the sun's rays rose above the horizon and warmed them both in it's golden, bright light. Even though their parents were gone, Keith and Shiro now knew that they weren't alone. If nothing else, a brother has his brother, and no matter what happened, they would never be alone. No one was ever alone. Not in grief, not in joy, nor pain.

As the sun's rays warmed them both, Shiro and Keith finally stepped back. Keith wiped a small tear from his cheek, and Shiro wiped two away from his own as Keith sheathed their mother's dagger. They both then turned to the rising sun, and Shiro put a big brother's arm around his little brother, the fact of them being only half brothers not changing anything at all: they were still just as close. Keith put his own arm up around his brother's back and shoulder, and they stood that way, content. With the first step of making peace finished, the next step was moving forward. Keith made a light chuckle.

"How on Earth are we gonna tell the others about this?" He asked aloud.

Shiro himself chuckled. He wasn't even sure how he would start. He breathed in deep and sighed.

"I don't know…." He said, thinking about it hard for a minute. "I guess we could just say it was…

A Matter Of Family."

 _*note to readers* There it is, the end. I'm sorry about Eliza and Logan, but I thought it was a good way to bring the story to a close in a lot of ways. If you want to comment at all about the story, feel free to PM me but try to keep the comments spoiler free if you can ;D Anyways, thank you all for sticking with this story, and I have a few heads ups to ya guys before I go. At some point, I'll be exchanging some of these chapters with more new, polished ones to make it a better reading experience and to fix mistakes that drive me nuts every time I read them. This story does end at chapter ten, but I'll be editing some of the chapters at some point (though I don't know when). Another thing I feel I have to add is that this story was so much fun to write, especially that part with Keith and Shiro moving forward! The second and final heads up is that with A Matter Of Family out of the way, I can focus my attention on a new story which I've sent a preview/prolouge for called The Colors Of Voltron. It's a fanfic me and my friend (who some of you might know and love) VenusDemilo-Shirolover2. We've been so excited to share it with you guys, and it's finally getting started, so stay tuned for the first chapter ;D Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy season eight! I will probably blow through the hole season in one or two nights XD have a great week and God Bless! Flicout XD_


	12. Warning: this is an announcement

**Warning: this is not an actual chapter, but an important announcement concerning this fanfic.**

 _Hello everyone, I am as you well know, Flicka LightBeast, and I am sending out a quick note to guys concerning A Matter Of Family. It has now been a full year I think since I finished this story, and while I'm proud of it, it's...not all perfect. Looking back at the chapters I saw how the presentation was absalutely terrible and decided to start loosely polishing the chapters up and replace the old ones with the new. That idea is somewhat scratched now, but only because I've decided to do something better._

 _Upon this "chapter"/note being posted, A Matter Of Family will be in the process of editing and polishing, and I will post an entirely new story titled A Matter Of Family (remake). This story will basically be the same as the original, the chapters all being the original documents, but I'll be posting them after I've cleaned and polished them up. Once all of the chapters have been posted, I'll delete the original story but keep the new one's title (A Matter Of Family (remake) ) and leave it up as the one new people will read. This is mostly because going back into this currently posted story and switching out chapters could be a little hairy and I thought posting the new and polished stuff on a fresh start would be good._

 _I'll miss the wonderful comments you guys have made (I'll probably write all of them down in notes or write your usernames to remember your awesome support), but I think this will greatly help the story presentation and will let me move on since this story's flaws have just been driving me nuts! Thank you all so much for having stuck with this story till the end and coming back to it upon seeing the update alert and probably going "say what now?" XD The chapters will start coming every Friday (hopefully) when I post the first chapter (don't know when exactly, but soon). For more information about this new update, feel free to visit my bio/profile. Just keep scrolling down until you see something talking about a newsletter in big, bold writing. You'll find other news related to stories I'm currently posting or getting ready to post in that same section of my bio as well, kinda like a little alert thingy for you guys to come back to see what's happening._

 _Anyway, thanks again for coming back and reading this and I hope you have a fantastic day and week! God Bless, and Flicout!_


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